Knight of Swords
by Ajora
Summary: Oikawa's financial supporters decide that it's time to resume the Dark Seed Project. Since they still have one last Dark Seed, it's time to find a new child as a host. (work in progress, Takeru/Ken. Chpt 8 up)
1. The Magicians

Knight of Swords  
Chapter 1: The Magicians  
-by Ajora Fravashi

*Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon. Toei does.  
*Warning: Shounen ai, violence, all that good stuff. Pay attention to the rating, people. Main pairing is Takeru/Ken but there will be mention of other pairings too. This is a sequel to "Götterdämmerung", and it is advised that anyone just entering this fic universe should read "Phantom Codewalker" and "Götterdämmerung" first. You'll be lost if you don't read those fics first. Trust me. 

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Their crusader had failed and was eventually killed by Vandemon's life drain. With Oikawa gone, they had no one to act as a puppet and driving force for their missions. And so they waited patiently for another to fall into their lap. After all, time was on their side. 

Then, one day, a mother came to their notice. She had lost a son to the Digital World, someone named Oshiro. Yoshinaka Oshiro had departed many years ago and never returned, and yet his mother had never gone to anyone other than the local authorities about it until the Akiyama boy turned up again after the several years when he was considered lost. The boy had sought her out and told her about Oshiro's death in the Digital World and that Oshiro had been his mentor. Mrs. Yoshinaka, seeing how closely he resembled her son, begged him to stay. She was disappointed when he had to return home. 

It was a month later that she had come to them, hoping to take revenge on the world that stole her son from her and killed him off. This was the opportunity that they were looking for, and they embraced it. The tale she gave them about Oshiro's demise did not interest them, it was some sob story concerning the destruction of a research center by someone named Piemon. This Piemon had implanted a virus package into Oshiro's back that had eventually destroyed his physiology and killed him. While the idea of such a thing might be worth researching, their goals were greater. 

The gates to the Digital World were blown open by BelialVandemon, yet it still would not allow them to enter it. This was quite frustrating, for there was an entire new world out there, an entire world where they would be able to do as they wished, and it was eternally out of their reach. 

The first Dark Seed project had been filed away once the host, Sakimoto Kageko, died and the Dark Seed became inert. The second, also spearheaded by Oikawa, failed when Vandemon took over Oikawa's intentions and Black Wargreymon's sacrifice recalibrated the coordinates to the Digital World's dimension. According to their spies, the original subject of #DS-002 was no longer host to his Dark Seed, and was therefore useless. Trying to recapture him and plant Sakimoto's Dark Seed in him would attract too much attention, as Ichijouji Ken was closely watched by his family now. 

Oh yes, they did still have Sakimoto's Dark Seed floating in a pressurized chamber in one of their Tokyo University labs. It would remain inert until they found a new host for it. If all went as their scientists hypothesized, cultivating this Dark Seed would give them great power. Just what kind was still in question. 

One by one they looked through the information files of the so-called Chosen Children, trying to find one that would be easiest to capture. Those with siblings were bypassed, those with two parents overlooked. The youth they needed had to be one that shared an apartment with only one parent, preferably one that was out working most of the time. This left them with two boys, brothers separated by divorce. They went over these files again to figure out which was most suitable as a new host, talking amongst themselves as they did so. Finally one of them pointed out that the younger of the two was best suited, and they all agreed. With the younger boy's relationship to Ichijouji being the type one would not mention to one's parents, blackmail could be used to convince the boy to go along with their plans if all else failed. 

With their choice made they set out to call Mrs. Yoshinaka and give her the first assignment: the abduction of Takaishi Takeru. 

.~*~. 

He wondered sometimes just what his relationship with Ken really meant. He was certainly attracted to the other boy and had felt, since Ken's effortless kidnapping by Mixcoatlmon, that Ken was beginning to mean a lot more to him than he originally thought. Takeru needed someone to protect and someone he could understand, and Ken needed someone who would be able to do so. 

This might have brought forth the question of his orientation, had he not already learned of Ryo's bisexuality through Ken. So he simply assumed he was bisexual too since he had crushes on girls before as well. But these crushes rarely lasted long, and never as long as his relationship with Ken. So he wondered again and again if things went deeper than he thought. Was he actually in love with Ken? 

That question always brought even more questions, so he simply never took the time to think about it. With all the threats to Ken gone, he would always have later to think about it. Unfortunately, his mind was starting to gravitate elsewhere when he was around Ken and 'later' became 'much later'... preferably once he got his boyfriend in bed and willing to do things he had only read about. Ryo really hadn't been very good about hiding some more... explicit reading material in one of the study's bookshelves. Several of those books had not been helpful in stilling his hormones at all. 

However, there was still the issue of Ken's phobias concerning sex. He waited patiently in hopes that Ken would eventually get over those phobias, but the wait was frustrating at times. There was nothing else he could do. 

Takeru stared across the intersection as he waited for one of the lights to turn green, peering out under an umbrella as he did so. Rain pelted heavily upon the green fabric, fell in sheets all around him, and the umbrella was pretty much useless given how the winds were tossing countless droplets around. He shouldn't have volunteered to run down to the Ai-Mart for food and the bookstore for something Ken needed, but then he didn't think it would rain so soon. There had been weather warnings, yes, but things didn't seem like they would be this severe. 

The others were studying at Miyako's apartment this time around, and his own was in the same building. Perhaps he should stop by his apartment first to dry off before going to offload the junk food in front of the rest of the group. Yeah, that made sense, he had Patamon in his apartment and would have to fetch him beforehand. Ken would be there too, and he wanted to at least look somewhat presentable. 

Finally the light turned green and the pedestrian signal flashed an image of a walking stick figure. He moved forward to cross the street, school uniform shoes splashing through puddles that had already formed in the more shallow areas. When he reached the middle of the street he heard the clapping sound of a woman's hard-soled shoes against the asphalt but paid it little heed. Nothing really unusual. 

Two-thirds of the way across he heard the woman's pace come closer and closer, and once he was across he felt something hard and cold press against his ribs. Something that might have felt like a lead pipe or... Takeru's eyes widened as he felt it dig further against his ribs, surprise and fear rising up within him. A gun? Guns were illegal in Japan, weren't they? 

"Keep walking and don't make any sudden moves, boy," the woman's cold voice hissed into his ear. A heavy weight seemed to settle in his stomach as he walked along at the woman's insistence. 

This couldn't be happening... Why was it happening?... Oh gods, why him of all people? But maybe he could jab his elbow back and into her chest in an attempt to stun her. Ken said it would work, so he could at least try. Whatever it was she wanted, he didn't want to surrender so easily. He tensed just a bit in preparation for the move, but the woman jabbed her gun barrel against his ribs again. 

"Don't be stupid and make any moves like that. I'm sure you wouldn't want us to take your boyfriend as a substitute." 

Icy terror threaded through Takeru's veins at the woman's words. How could she have known? Only the other Chosen knew about their relationship, and none of them were likely to speak of that to any outsiders. And she had threatened to take away Ken if he didn't go along. Any threat to Ken's safety he could not allow. So, go along he would, and hopefully the others could track his D-3. 

The woman motioned that he should enter a car parked near his apartment, and he did as he was told. It was an unassuming little car, just like any other in Tokyo. He held on to the hope that the others would find him when they realized that he wouldn't show up, that Ken would be safe. 

As the grey Subaru pulled out of its spot and accessed the road, a bony, well-manicured hand reached out an open window and tossed out a green-toned device. The D-3 splashed into a puddle by the side of the road. 

Yoshinaka Reiko settled back in her seat as she rolled up her window and watched the buildings pass by. Soon enough they would cross the Rainbow Bridge that would lead to downtown Tokyo, and it was there she could offload the boy for the moment. Even now the Takaishi boy slept, his slumber induced by the injection of tranquilizers. He was the same age her own son had been before his disappearance, and she would have questioned her own motives had she not reminded herself that this boy was a representative of the world that had killed her Oshiro. 

She did not regret going to the syndicate, nor did she regret doing what she did now. It was all for revenge, and no words from the yakuza beside her could sway her decisions. He had no right to judge her, and once he was reminded of that he simply went back to the task of driving. 

This boy was the one they planned to host the seed that would help her take her revenge, of that she was certain. 

.~*~. 

Ken sighed to himself as he stared down at the trigonometry book opened out in front of him. Takeru was supposed to have come back a while ago, but since it had been raining so hard once the blond stepped outside, he simply assumed that Takeru decided to stay in the Ai-Mart until things let up. But it had more or less been half an hour now since the clouds parted and the rain ceased, and still there was no sign of Takeru. Where could Takeru be? 

Oddly enough, he was barely aware of how distressed he really was until Daisuke slammed a hand down on the surface of his book and startled him. Barely a second passed before he found himself eye to eye with the other boy. 

"Ken, I'm due for some fresh air. Come outside with me?" 

"If you want to look for Takeru, Daisuke, there's no need to hide it," Iori admonished lightly, eyes never leaving his history textbook. The tiniest of smirks quirked at the corners of the boy's lips as Daisuke whipped around to glare at him. "But by all means go ahead." 

As Miyako rebuked Iori for ruining Daisuke's attempt at subtlety, the auburn-haired boy rose from his seat on the floor and straightened. Minomon and Chibimon scrambled out of his way as he did so, leaving in their wake a flurry of loose paper. Nahualmon, whose presence had been explained to the others as simply a digimon who had latched to Ken, looked up quizzically from where it had been gnawing on someone's dried-out pen. "So come on, Ken, let's look for Takeru and that food we were supposed to have an hour ago." 

Before Ken could respond, Hikari's voice rose from the bed she was studying on with Miyako. "Takeru can take care of himself. Besides, if there was any trouble, Patamon would let us know or handle it on his own. I'm sure Takeru's just fine." 

"I would still like a breath of fresh air," Ken stated as he followed Daisuke's example and rose from the floor. Despite Hikari's attempt at reassurance, he was still worried about Takeru and Minomon echoed his agitation. The digimon flailed for his attention, stopping only when he picked up the little green bagworm and cradled it. As if it had perceived that it might be left behind, Nahualmon launched itself from its perch on a bookshelf and fluttered the short distance it took to situate itself on its usual place over Ken's left shoulder. Incapable of speech in this form, the feathered reptile simply crooned at him in what he assumed was a reassuring manner. 

Miyako waved them off before returning her attention to her textbook. "Have fun boys. I'm sure you know the way out." 

Once clear of the Inoue apartment, neither spoke for awhile. They walked in silence, though Ken was well aware of Daisuke's darting glances that every now and then settled back on him. Daisuke was more concerned over him than Takeru, most likely, which explained why the other boy's gaze kept falling on him at predictable intervals. 

Ken sighed as he stepped outside of the apartment building with his friend, still hugging his bagworm of a digimon partner close. With each step the Archaeopterix-like digimon dug its claws deeper into the cloth of his shirt, but he was used to that by now. There still was no sign of Takeru in the building or anywhere around the building. All he could focus on now was Takeru. Where was Takeru, why wasn't he back? But Takeru would be okay, right? It was probably nothing serious, maybe Takeru just had to go back to the school to grab a forgotten book or something and would soon be back. 

They walked to the Ai-mart and asked Miyako's father when Takeru left. The answer offered them no help, as Takeru left the store roughly an hour ago. As Daisuke thanked Mr. Inoue for the information, Ken squeezed his digimon partner close once again, taking what comfort he could from the action. The hope he clung to that suggested that Takeru was alright was beginning to slip through his fingers and he could do nothing about it. 

His steps were almost mechanical as he followed Daisuke's lead across the street back to the apartment building. Since they became friends, Takeru had always been there for him, always available. But now Takeru was gone and he had no idea where. Daisuke suggested checking Takeru's apartment, but Ken was beginning to have doubts that anything could be found there. 

The moment they reached the general vicinity of the Takaishi apartment, the sounds of something hard raking against wood became louder the closer they drew. Nahualmon squawked at the noise, feathers bristling in what Ken assumed was discomfort. Perhaps it was out of curiosity that he stepped forward to turn the knob of the door. It wasn't locked, much to his surprise, and an agitated Patamon fluttered out from behind the door. The creature nearly crashed into his face before stopping short in front of him. 

"Takeru's in trouble," Patamon exclaimed, his words just barely registering in Ken's mind before he continued. "We have to find him!" 

Patamon's words resounded in his mind, drawing from the depths of his soul a familiar ache. It was happening again. Someone dear to him was going to leave him all alone again. Why did this always have to happen when he became so attached to anyone? 

Daisuke's hand clapped on his right shoulder and squeezed lightly in an attempt to grab his attention. Blinking, Ken looked up to see Daisuke with a reassuring smile on that tanned face and waving the blue D-3 in front of his face. "Hey, y'know, I bet we can track him down on our D-3s. Then when we find him, I'll give him a good whack for making you worry so much! Okay?" 

"Daisuke, you don't-" Before Ken could finish, Daisuke's hand grabbed his free wrist and began tugging him down the street, only pausing every now and then to get a good look at the digivice. They trotted together for several blocks, their pace causing Nahualmon to squawk indignantly until it launched itself from Ken's left shoulder and fluttered after them with Patamon close behind. 

The buildings and people they passed did not attract their attention, for all they could concentrate on was the little dot showing on the screen of Daisuke's D-3. The nearer they drew to it, a dark layer of despair was shed from the heart of the Child of Kindness with every building passed. They would find Takeru after all. 

A few more buildings were passed and ignored, people sidestepped or pushed aside. Few now questioned the presence of digimon, for in the years since BelialVandemon's defeat, they had become a regular occurrence. Finally, as they reached the area near the Odaiba-Kaihinkoen train station, their pace slowed and the dots on the digivice that indicated both their position and Takeru's overlapped. But Takeru simply wasn't around. 

Sighing, Daisuke released Ken's wrist and went to look around for Takeru's digivice. If he ever saw Takeru again, he was going to beat the crap out of the boy for doing this to his best friend. It was in a puddle where the street met the curb that he found Takeru's digivice. Tossed aside like trash. Well shit, maybe if he hid this in a pocket he could spare Ken any more distress by not voicing the suggestion that Takeru might either have run away or had been kidnapped. 

As he rose with as much of a nonchalant air as he could muster, Daisuke moved to slip the thing into his pants pocket. A tiny noise drew his attention, however, and he looked up to see Ken gazing back at him. Ken was wearing the same expression he had seen the day of Wormmon's death: hopeless, lost... Shattered. 

.~*~. 

Akiyama Kumi was not a woman to be taken lightly, due more to her rigid upbringing than anything else. Russian born and raised, she was originally a botany student named Khynika Svetlana Zakharova. She had been stationed in Kuznetsovo, a town on the tip of the island of Ostrov Sakhalin before meeting Akiyama Toshio. There were supposed to have been laws against allowing the denizens of Hokkaido into Russian territory, but those laws were rarely enforced and often ignored. Only a tiny strait separated Sakhalin from the northernmost tip of Hokkaido and was regularly crossed by merchants and fishermen seeking new business on either side. 

It was through Toshio's smuggling of Hokkaido's alpine flowers and selling them in Sakhalin that she met him, and he had been drawn to her the moment she gave him the plants' scientific names. Somewhere along the line a courtship started and she moved with him to Sapporo, and their son was born soon after. 

Toshio had given Ryo his name, explaining to her that the name meant 'distant'. The name had soon turned to be quite fitting, as Ryo had always been distant around them and constantly bored with their life. Shortly after Ryo's first brief disappearance around New Year's Eve of 1999, he had come back with tales of another world. Neither she or Toshio believed him, and he no longer dropped mention of it. Then he disappeared again after she sent him to Tokyo for schooling, and did not return until the last year. With him came a strange purple creature that was proof of the world he once spoke of, and that digimon now acted as a regular member of the family. The verbal sparring matches she had with it were quite refreshing, something she missed since leaving Russia. 

Even now the creature was preparing another sarcastic comment to counter her own, continuing a conversation about miscellaneous matters that did not seem to draw her son's attention from his computer screen. It was rare when Ryo touched that computer now, only once in a week did he turn it on, and only to check e-mail. There had been a time that he couldn't be peeled from it for hours. Now he would leave it for hours if she called for his help, and she wondered just what happened to cause this change. She never asked, though, for there simply was no great need to do so. 

As the verbal swordplay wound down to a draw, she glanced over to her son's computer screen in hopes of finding something to talk to him about. She had never really seen what fascinated him so much about that little world of electronics he always withdrew into when other kids would treat him badly for being born of foreign blood. He even looked far more like her than his Ainu-born father. But it was time she made the attempt, at least. "Any interesting e-mail?" 

Ryo looked up at her with eyes as blue as her own, curious as to just why she was asking him such a thing. "Uhm... Daisuke's e-mailed asking about a dungeon in a game. I don't see why he can't dig up a FAQ on his own, though. There's also a big multiple-response e-mail from Ken, but that's it. Why?" 

His mother pointed to the blinking icon that indicated that there was new mail waiting to be downloaded. "Does that mean there's more?" 

Even more curious now, Ryo looked back at his screen and clicked on the icon. What came in was a simple, one-line note from Ken that listed his friend's phone number and the short request of "Call me now. Please." 

Glancing up from the screen, Ryo looked back at his mother. "Can I make a long distance phone call? Ken wouldn't ask me this if it wasn't an emergency." 

Kumi simply shrugged and stepped out of the way to allow her son to rise and head for the phone. "I hope you have enough money to pay the bill when it comes in." 

Thanking his mother as he passed her to access the only phone in the house, Ryo dialed out to Tokyo, pointedly ignoring whatever snide comment Savali was trying to give him at the moment. It wasn't long until he got ahold of the Ichijouji residence and asked for Ken. 

"Ryo," Ken's soft, quavering voice queried over the static that occupied the phone line. "Ryo, is that you?" 

Concern crossed Ryo's face as he recognized the tone for what it was. "The one and only. What happened? You don't sound well." 

There was a pause as the other boy seemed to be... sniffling? What could have happened to reduce Ken to that? "We can't find him. We've looked everywhere, even his parents are out looking for him right now. He's nowhere." Another pause, and then Ryo heard a distinctive crack in Ken's voice. "Ryo, please help." 

"Wait, who can't you find?" 

"Ta- Takeru, he's missing. We can't track his digivice because it was found on the side of the road. We can't find him anywhere," murmured Ken. Ryo absently squeezed the spiraled phone cord as the desperate tone in Ken's voice struck at an ancient need within him. The need to comfort Ken and say that everything was going to be alright. But false hope was useless in this situation. 

Ryo sighed as he considered the options. Takeru came across as too loyal a person to run away, and if the D-3 was dropped off then the kidnappers would know of Takeru's significance as a Chosen Child. That limited their options to parents and several other interested parties. Parents could be ruled out, the other parties he would have to investigate. "I'll look, but I won't guarantee that I'll find anything. Can you take care of Patamon for the time being?" 

There was a tiny noise of acknowledgment at the the other end of the line. "Yes, Ms. Takaishi says I can drop by and grab extra food for Patamon if I can't afford it myself." 

"Taking care of three digimon at once is a challenge. Good luck, Ken," Ryo offered, pausing only to untwine his fingers from the cord. "And take care of yourself. I'll e-mail you if I find anything." 

"Thanks. Please find Takeru, I need him." Ken's voice was barely above a whisper now. "Later, Ryo." 

After the connection was closed, Ryo settled the phone back on its cradle and glanced at the two pairs of eyes staring back at him. Shaking off their concern for the time being, he returned to his computer and began his specialized search programs. Investigate what he can, send Koushiro to crack into what he can't. As it was, he had a pretty good idea where to start. 

While the company logo of a particular branch of a syndicate rendered, Ryo turned back to look at his mother and the tsukaimon. "In a week, if I can't find what I'm looking for, I'm going to Tokyo myself. Either of you want to come with me?" 

"Someone has to keep you out of trouble," Savali snorted. "Yes, I'll go along." 

"It's been awhile since I've seen your grandmother, so count me in," his mother added. "I'm sure your father can keep track of the Fishery on his own for the time being." 

"Oh good, the moment we take off the Fishery is going to fail, I just know it." Savali smirked to himself as the brown-haired woman narrowed her eyes at him. 

Reaching out faster than the tsukaimon could react, Kumi picked up the creature by its wings and shook it slightly. "Keep believing that, because it'll only happen in your dreams." 

Ryo sighed to himself as another minor battle commenced and returned his attention to his screen. He had an idea of who might have been behind it and why, but he just wasn't certain of it yet. 

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Ajora: Yes, we're going to see a lot more of Kumi and Reiko, both of which are actually original characters. I also have permission now to play more with Meimi's original character, Kageko, so more will be seen of her too... in flashbacks at least. 


	2. The Chariot

Knight of Swords  
Chapter 2: The Chariot  
-by Ajora Fravashi 

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Sterile white light illuminated an observation room, giving everything in the area an unnaturally cool tint. Scientists from various research centers around Japan gathered here, they occupied both the observation tiers above and the room itself. Watching them to the side were those executives that had invested time and money to the project. In the center of the room was the source of their attentions. 

A boy that was fifteen years of age was laid out face-down on a sliding table that was connected to a large machine, his hair pulled away from the back of his neck. A new, experimental version of a MRI machine was situated before the boy's head, its humming a constant drone under the flow of conversations that filled the room. The crowd of labcoat-wearing scientists and doctors soon parted as one among them stepped forward with a containment vessel in his hands. 

Silence fell as this man strode towards the teenaged boy, nothing in either his face or posture indicating anything other than mild scientific curiosity at what results this experiment would yield. The others watched intently as he settled the bottom of the containment vessel on the back of the boy's neck, the hard plastic ring pressing against an area marked with water-soluble ink. He commented in a monotone for his colleagues' sake as he began with the predetermined procedures. 

Suspended within this squat cylinder containment vessel of polymethyl methacrylate and thermoset polyurethane, a collection of hard plastics virtually impenetrable by most mundane means, was a single dense mass of data made flesh. Their studies of it had suggested that once through the so-called "digital gate", the properties of that other dimension converted to the properties of this dimension, and evidence pointed out that it worked out vice versa as well. The object was spherical in form with short spikes jutting from its dark surface, organic in composition with strands of DNA so complex that it had taken them years to map the sequences. But they had studied all they could of the Dark Seed, the only progress they could make now was to usher it along its path of growth. 

Once the vessel was firmly strapped down around the boy's neck and the countdown panel activated, the scientist pushed the sliding table into position in the MRI machine. From the monitors they watched as the countdown wound to zero and the vessel's sliding lids parted to leave nothing but air between the boy's neck and the Dark Seed. Soon enough, the Dark Seed began to spin, darted towards the opening and buried itself into its new host's flesh. The intrusion elicited a violent jerk from the unconscious boy, and on the MRI scans it showed up in brilliant white due to its high-energy nuclear signature. Once it had entered, it bored past tissue and bone until it reached the medulla oblongata. One of the screens focused closer on the event area, depicting the small sphere of the Dark Seed as it stretched out and tendrils began to wrap around and into the nervous tissue. As it settled, the Dark Seed reached out with a few more tendrils to repair the damage its passage made. 

Sounds of muffled astonishment rose from the less-experienced doctors and scientists as they watched, and one even began voicing questions about why the Dark Seed would repair its damage. Another rebuked him for naivete and explained that it was an action of self-preservation. A pathologist stepped forward to take tissue samples once the boy was pulled out from under the MRI machine, withdrew once she had what she needed, and strode out of the room. She was followed to a pathology lab by a couple of hematologists and an intern. 

Hours passed as the scientists and doctors exchanged theories and conversed with varying degrees of excitement among themselves. After all, this was the first time they had had the opportunity to witness a Dark Seed's sowing. The boy had gone into anaphylactic and neurogenic shock and was taken to a prepared medical room for treatment, but it was not severe enough to cause permanent damage. For them all, the excitement of new experiences and advances in science outweighed one guinea pig's discomfort. 

.~*~. 

Weeks had passed with no sign of Takeru. The police had turned up nothing, and even Ryo and Koushiro's digital cloak-and-dagger games led to dead ends. Whoever had abducted Takeru did so with remarkable expertise and covered their tracks so well that nothing could be found. 

Ken turned off his computer screen as yet another hour passed by with no e-mail or calls coming in from Koushiro or Ryo concerning Takeru's whereabouts. For the fifth time in his life he had lost someone he cared about, and his life since then had fallen back into an all too familiar pattern. Cry and lay listless in bed for a while. Let his thoughts revolve around "what if" and "should have". Blame himself for not being able to do anything or even being the cause of it. Bury himself in school work. Now a new facet was appearing in this pattern: withdrawing from friends. Had something less serious happened, he likely would have appreciated the attention. But not now. 

Oh, they had tried though. At one point Daisuke and Ryo had even dragged him out to Tokyo Joypolis in Odaiba with the promise of embarrassing themselves at the "Dance Dance Revolution" machine. Well, Ryo had done a good job of embarrassing himself and Daisuke had proven to be quite good at dancing. Fortunately for them, Savali had chosen to stay with Ryo's mother and grandmother in Shibuya and was not able to mock them. Unfortunately, both his Jogress partners' antics failed to bring a smile to his face. 

Of them all, Tokomon took Takeru's disappearance the worst. Ken's own self-pity was nothing but whining in comparison to what Takeru's digimon partner was going through. The poor thing could barely be roused to eat now. They both sorely missed Takeru, but Ken would at least try to keep the three digimon he now took care of alive. It was all he could do. 

Silently, as if afraid to disturb the three sleeping baby digimon, Ken slipped out of the room to prepare some soup for Tokomon. All this depression hadn't been good for any of them or their appetites, and it had even affected Iaculmon. 

Ryo had explained to him once that it was the nature of Mixcoatlmon's birth that had ended up severely crippling the creature's mental and emotional capacities. Osamu's codewalker-conversion program had only ever been meant to be used on humans that had been killed in the Digital World, not modified clones like his Kaiser doppelganger. The program was only meant to operate with a complete human, and when it encountered the doppelganger, the code parameters made up for the lack by subtracting basic abilities from the newly formed digimon. Iaculmon, its baby form, was feral at best with all the intelligence of a snake and half the reaction time. Nahualmon's intelligence could only be compared with that of a very smart crow, and at rookie level it was even more ineffective in battle than Wormmon. Both forms were genderless and incapable of speech, and he was sure that Mixcoatlmon could never evolve to ultimate or mega forms. 

Iaculmon soon slithered after him, drawn as always to him. Silently Ken picked up the little winged snake and allowed it to settle comfortably in his arms. In an almost amusing stroke of coincidence he had found in a book mentions of an iaculu, an Egyptian symbol for the soul of the departed. This symbol was a snake with a single pair of wings, exactly like the false digimon. He didn't think the hieroglyph representing it had light blue scales, lavender feathers, and dark markings around the eyes that resembled the powdered malachite eyeliner that ancient Egyptians wore, however. 

The snake peered owlishly at him as he prepared red miso soup for Tokomon. He wondered many times what his doppelganger might have thought had the Kaiser been able to see this, what it would be like to be turned into a fairly stupid and useless digimon. This would best be considered one of those cosmic jokes Ryo liked to bring up. 

Eventually he finished fixing soup and returned to his room to present it to Tokomon, whether the digimon wanted to consume it or not. Tokomon barely cracked an eyelid open at his voice, only to glance languidly at the soup bowl and close the eye again in disinterest. It took him several more tries and encouragement from Leafmon to get Tokomon to take a few sips. Well, it was something. 

Ken settled close by and pulled out a Gameboy Advance and the "Tactics Ogre Gaiden" game that Ryo had bought for him during their venture to Tokyo Joypolis. He had politely refused, of course, but Ryo insisted that he play it just to distract him for awhile. Besides, his first Jogress partner said that the game supported a link system and would allow them to train against each other, so now he had a challenge to take up once his troops were at the same level as Ryo's. Well, it wasn't that much of a challenge considering that tactical games were his forte and that he would end up wiping Ryo's troops all over the playing field, but it was something else to focus on. 

.~*~. 

Since Takeru's abduction, Yamato could hardly allow himself to sleep at nights. It was like a slap in his face knowing that his little brother was gone and he could do nothing about it. With both parents working night and day to find some sign of Takeru, all he could do was offer stoic support. 

Of his parents, Natsuko was far more attached to Takeru than his father and seemed to require Yamato's presence more often now. And, somehow, he decided that he could help her cope by just being there. Come to think of it, the very idea was somewhat funny. He could hardly be considered the most selfless of teenagers, yet here he was taking care of his mother's apartment for the moment and waiting for her to come home or waiting for some call from the police. 

Yamato hummed to himself as he glanced down at the rows of blank measures that awaited his penmanship. He had been trying for the past two weeks to write a new song for his band, but inspiration seemed to be eluding him completely. The empty lines showed up stark black against blank white and the contrast screaming for his attention, for him to break the monotony with notes and lyrics. Unfortunately there was nothing he could come up with that hadn't already been done before by every other rock group. 

Perhaps it was the abduction that stole his inspiration along with his brother. That made some amount of sense, at least. Grunting in disgust at his inability to _do something_, Yamato dropped his pencil into a mug used for various writing utensils and leaned back into the chair to glare sullenly at the passively offensive paper. 

For a few seconds he simply closed his eyes in an attempt to focus on some threads of thought that might lead to an idea for a song. In the midst of his train of thought, he heard a distinctive thump at the door. Well, it was something interesting, and he rose from his mother's chair to investigate it. 

A glance out the peephole revealed nothing, and Yamato was tempted to just leave it as an anomalous sound and go back to beating a song from his mind. But the door was tightly pressed against the doorjamb and that suggested that there was something heavy pressing up against it. Intrigued, Yamato opened the door. 

An unconscious Takeru had been propped up against the door and slumped backwards as the door opened, leaving Yamato little time to drop to his knees and keep Takeru from falling the rest of the way. A survey out the door provided no indication that anyone had come by to drop Takeru off, so all he had to deal with now was his little brother. 

Takeru, his innocent little brother, home at last. With a thankful word towards whomever had returned his little brother, Yamato pulled Takeru up from the floor and closed the door behind them. Relief finally flooded over him as he wrapped his arms around his brother. 

Then uncertainty settled in under the joy of having his Takeru back, it slithered darkly in the shadows of his mind and became more apparent with each breath. Why had Takeru simply been dropped off? Was his brother okay and should he call his parents? 

Yes, that was something to do once he settled Takeru onto a more comfortable surface. With quite a bit of effort, Yamato hefted his brother from the floor and proceeded to the couch. If Takeru didn't wake up soon he would have to call someone who knew more about illnesses than he did and have that someone check up on Takeru to see if anything was wrong. First things first, he would need to call their mother. 

.~*~. 

"Ken dear, there's a call for you," Mrs. Ichijouji called out, penetrating the silence that was all too prevalent in Ken's room. 

Ken looked up from his game with a start, unaware that he had been so entrenched in the gameplay that an hour had passed since his last attempt to feed Tokomon. With his curiosity piqued, Ken turned off his console and rose to exit his room. His mother was waiting for him, and handed him the phone the moment he was close enough to take it. 

"Hello, Ichijouji Ken speaking." 

"Hi, Ken. Think you can come over later?" 

Ken's breath caught in his throat as he recognized the voice at the other end of the phone line. Takeru's voice was the last thing he expected to hear, and yet it was the very thing he had been waiting for in the past few weeks. He had so many questions he wanted answers to, but he could ask once they were together again. "Gladly. But Takeru, where have you been?" 

"Mom and Yamato insisted on dragging me to the doctor's for a check up. You know, to make sure I'm okay. They tried to see if I had a concussion or something since I don't remember anything about where I've been," Takeru responded. A hint of annoyance soon rose in his voice as he continued. "I really wish they wouldn't fuss so much." 

A short pause fell between them, leaving Ken a moment to focus just on the emotions brought forth by Takeru's reappearance. The weight of weeks of depression tumbled from his shoulders and left him feeling lighter than he had for what seemed like ages, yet he was still concerned. "You've been gone for weeks, of course they're going to fuss. Do you really not remember anything?" 

"I remember the woman who kidnapped me poked me with a needle, but I can't recall anything other than that. Even that memory is somewhat blurry and I don't remember what she looked like other than the fact that she was really skinny. But I'm intact and safe, so that doesn't matter anymore." This time Takeru's tone held a dismissive air that indicated that he would not like to talk about that matter anymore. 

"We should still find out," Ken began, then rushed his words as he heard Takeru take in a breath to argue with him. "But later. When should Tokomon and I come over?" 

The voice on the other end of the line softened considerably at this. "Any time you want. I'd prefer it if I had you two as soon as possible, though." 

A slight smile quirked at Ken's lips, the first genuine one since Takeru's abduction. "We've missed you, Takeru. I'll leave as soon as possible so we can get there faster." 

"I'll see you soon, then," Takeru responded with a note that Ken had learned to recognize as affection. The smile on his face widened as he heard this. "Now I'll just have to convince Yamato that everything's okay and he really should go back to Dad's. Ken, I... Well, later." 

As the connection closed, the Child of Kindness wondered for a few seconds about the words that were left in silence, then brushed it off. Takeru would tell him later, he was sure. He was tempted to pick up the three digimon and head out to the train station, but there was something else. The number he dialed was one he hadn't used for so long that he was surprised he still remembered it. 

"Hi, Ryo house-sitting for Akiyama Minami. How may I-" 

"Ryo, Takeru's come back, and it sounds like he's okay! You don't have to look for him anymore," Ken practically babbled in an excitement that was normally quite uncharacteristic for him. "I'm heading over to his apartment in a few minutes." 

"Oh, that's good," the former Tamer responded, though Ken could detect the subtle hint of doubt in his friend's voice. "Unexpected, but I suppose I'll find out what happened later. I have Grandma's car at my disposal since she and Mom are shopping at a department store close by and won't be home for hours. Want a ride?" 

Surprised at the offer, Ken allowed several seconds to pass by in silence before he spoke again. "I don't want to be any trouble, and Shibuya is so much further from Tamachi than Odaiba is-" 

"Not that much," countered Ryo. "Besides, I have business in Odaiba and the estrogen here has been killing me. I need to get out of here and you need a ride. I don't see any problem." 

A brief frown passed over Ken's face. "But I wanted to be alone with Takeru for awhile-" 

"Which you can't do if Ms. Takaishi hovers over Takeru as I suspect she would. I'd like to talk with her about a few things." There was a pause as Ken heard the faint sound of movement at the other end of the line, and the tiny clatter of keys soon followed. "I should take off now if I want to avoid the worst of the evening traffic. See you in a few minutes, Ken." 

Ken voiced his thanks for the ride and hung up, still somewhat giddy from his brief talk with Takeru. Takeru was back, safe, and seemed to be perfectly fine. Still, he wanted nothing more than to be able to hold his boyfriend close now and that everything would go back to normal. Tokomon would return to the way he was before the depression. Everything would be perfect again. 

It was twenty minutes later that Ryo arrived. The moment Ken heard the doorbell, he darted out with a quick goodbye to his parents, a digimon in his arms, and two more trailing close behind. He had told Tokomon that Takeru was back, but even that information failed to rouse the little creature. Hopefully that would change once he handed Tokomon back to Takeru. 

The traffic on Rainbow Bridge was horrible, and often there were jams that left them sitting in an idling car for ten minutes at a time or more. In that time Ken told his friend of Takeru's call, their situation failing to hamper his good mood and that in turn rubbed off on Ryo. Ryo simply seemed to be happy because he was, and Savali had not voiced a stab of sarcasm towards them the whole ride. All in all, despite the traffic, everything seemed to be going along fine. 

Ken was still smiling when they reached the Takaishi apartment, his arms full with Tokomon and a shoulder was occupied by Nahualmon. Wormmon inched close behind since there was no more room for him in Ken's arms. Takeru's mother greeted them with a relieved expression on her face and invited them in. The moment Nahualmon hopped off his shoulder and Wormmon was forcibly dragged away by a sadistically cackling Savali, Ryo took Ms. Takaishi to the side for what was bound to be a very long discussion about journalism and left him alone with Tokomon to check on Takeru. 

The door to Takeru's room was slightly ajar, and the light of dusk streamed from the opening with colors few artists could hope to emulate. Only the faint sound of breathing penetrated the silence. Curious, Ken opened the door further to peek in. 

"You're late," whispered the figure seated on a bed with knees drawn up. Blue eyes gazed at him with an expression he couldn't read, and for the first time in years Ken couldn't fathom what was wrong. 

Ken stepped within the room to close the door behind him. Takeru was probably just having a bad day, nothing more. "Ryo and I got caught in traffic, that's all. It's Ryo's last day in Tokyo and he wanted to ask your mother about something." 

Those blue eyes narrowed just a bit at the mention of his friend's name. "Last day? He'll be going back to Hokkaido, then?" 

"Yes, there's no more reason for him to be here," Ken stated, still puzzled by Takeru's odd behavior. In an attempt to change the subject, he held out the sleeping Tokomon. "Tokomon's been sleeping so deeply lately. I've tried my best to take care of him, but I really think he's better off with you." 

Tension dissipated then as Takeru rose from the bed to step before him. Tokomon stirred at his human partner's touch and leapt from Ken's arms to Takeru's in absolute joy. As Tokomon babbled his happiness at seeing Takeru once again, Takeru relaxed and smiled at his boyfriend. "Thanks for taking care of Tokomon." 

A tiny smile spread across Ken's face in response to Takeru's. Mindful of Tokomon's presence, he leaned forward to plant a light kiss on Takeru's lips. "Welcome home," the Child of Kindness murmured before returning again to kiss his companion. 

Tokomon, well aware of the fact that the humans probably wanted a little more privacy, hopped out of Takeru's arms to watch from the side. Well, at least he had Takeru back, and everything was going to be all right. 

.~*~. 

Takeru stared down at the sheet of paper in front of him. The test questions were ridiculously easy, but he just couldn't be bothered to answer more than half of them. His mind circled constantly around Ken now, everything was about Ken now. It hadn't necessarily been that way before his disappearance, but the seeds of obsession seemed to have grown since then. He disliked the fact that Ken was now a Tamer, disliked even more the fact that the job seemed to be taking up more and more of Ken's free time. More than anything, he hated the idea that the Holy Beasts were now keeping a very close watch on Ken, even if he had never seen them hovering around during Ken's training sessions. They probably had spies keeping an eye on Ken for them. 

And then there was Akiyama. His pencil's tip broke when the thought of Akiyama's friendship with Ken caused him to stab at the desk in frustration. Akiyama was a nice guy, yes, but Ken was _his_ and he did not like the concept of sharing at all. Thankfully, Akiyama's job of teaching Ainu kids in Hokkaido took up time that might otherwise have been spent online with Ken, and thus was well out of the way for the most part. Daisuke was always around though, always being so damn chummy and enthusiastic around Ken that it was starting to set his teeth on edge whenever he saw the goggle-wearing boy. Akiyama was out of the way, but the other would have to be dealt with before Daisuke started getting any ideas about infringing on _his_ territory. 

But how? For now, at least, he should probably just keep such thoughts and emotions to himself. There was nothing else he could do at this point in time. Perhaps later he would have his opportunity to warn Daisuke off for good. Perhaps later he would be able to figure out who gave him the crest and tag that now hung around his neck, the emblem in the tag representing a silver stylized sword. Perhaps later he would find out who gave him the silver D-3 that occupied the pocket he once held his own in. But he had to be patient, for all things will come in time. 

.~*~. 

There comes a time when one looks into the mirror and realizes that what they see is all they will ever be. For some this comes early in life, for others it may come later. For Ryo, it came at a point in his life where he had come to accept the failures and regrets that had accumulated over the span of his relatively short life. He once had a dream of becoming an architect, but that had died when he sold himself to the Holy Beasts. Now, thanks to Japan's rigid school system, he would never be able to pick up where he left off. 

Oh, his mother had offered to send him to the university at Vladivostok instead, saying that she knew people there that would be able to help him. His mastery of Cyrillic and his mother's native language was tentative at best, however, and would have to be improved if he wanted to take her up on that offer. But for now all he could claim for a future was the teaching job for a local Ainu tribe, one that paid very little due to poverty. They did appreciate his help, though, and the occassional hand-made gifts had more sentimental value than any money they could dig up. He still hadn't a clue as to why they would make things for him just because of what he did. 

All in all, life seemed to be going fine. He was still suspicious of Takeru's sudden reappearance, but there was nothing he could do right now. Ms. Takaishi had given him all the information she had concerning Takeru's examination by a doctor and there just wasn't anything wrong with the boy. Doubts nibbled like fish at the back of his mind. This simply did not make sense. Why would someone kidnap Takeru, drop him off later, and leave no marks that would show up in a thorough medical examination? 

"You're worried," a dry, deep, yet quite female voice uttered, drawing his attention back to the present. He blinked and looked up from the embroidered sash he held with the intention of tying it around the thick chikarkarpe overcoat he wore during his outings to the local tribe establishment. 

"Yeah," Ryo replied as he tied the sash's knot. "Nothing about Takeru's abduction makes sense. From what Ken says there's been no obvious change in Takeru's usual behavior and school performance, and Takeru just doesn't remember anything. I'm very worried that something... wrong might happen in the future." 

At the kitchen counter, Kumi chewed on a carrot in thought for a moment. Savali took her distraction to his advantage and made a beeline for the half-hidden package of sweets in the pantry. "In Russia, we have a saying: 'There will come a time when the seed will sprout'. All things will come in their own time, and there's no point in worrying about what might or might not come in the future." 

"Bad things always happen sooner or later," the tsukaimon piped up cheerfully from somewhere in the pantry. "So why worry about something you don't have a hand in? Oh, I forget, you can never stay out of trouble anyway, so you probably will have a hand in whatever happens." 

Before Ryo could come up with a retort, his mother turned and pulled Savali out of the pantry by the wings. "Savali, that's supposed to last us a month. Ryo, would you mind taking the punk with you?" 

Sighing, Ryo plucked the tsukaimon from his mother's hands and held him firmly so that Savali would not squirm out easily. "Yeah, sure. I thank the gods that Savali doesn't know the language. Have fun at the Fishery, Mom." 

With rather dark thoughts concerning recent events and a travel bag to keep Savali in for the trip, Ryo left the house and started up the old, worn out motorcycle he used as transport to the nearby tribe. Well, there was nothing he could do now _but_ wait. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Ajora: Just a few notes here: the Ainu are the native people of Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and the Kurile Islands and share many similarities to the North American natives. Chikarkarpe are cotton clothing embroidered with patterns unique to the culture. And yes, there are plenty of double meanings about in this fic ^_^. 


	3. The Moon

Knight of Swords  
Chapter 3: The Moon  
-by Ajora Fravashi

*Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon. Toei does. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------- 

_ The air was thick with anticipation and hot with the summer sun, and all around were those who awaited the return of their hero. Ryo had gone with V-mon to the mountain on which the enemy retreated, leaving them behind to wait. _

She sighed to herself as she argued once again with the Nanimon that seemed to be milking her for all the money she had. If she wasn't so certain that they would need the items, she would have simply left and gone back to watch over Ken. 

Ken... Gods, it had only been a few months since Osamu's death, and they had all grieved. They shouldn't have been thrust into the Digital World so soon, what with the despair that lingered over them. Ryo tried to be supportive and brave, he really did, but he had been too deeply affected and she ended up being the shoulder that both boys cried on. 

Kageko had to be cheerful for them, had to pretend that everything would be all right. But couldn't they see that she was grieving too? Osamu had been a friend of sorts, and perhaps they would have been closer had she not been aware that the genius boy was starting to want more than just friendship from Ryo. It had started off small at first, just little things she didn't even notice until she started looking back to see where it all began. It had been eventual, something that built up over time until the tension was so thick and prevalent that it was a miracle that Ryo had never figured it out. 

With a grimace she thrust that train of thought aside. There really was no point focusing on those events, and it only ended up making her bitter about everything. Not that she wasn't feeling bitter right now, but she had other things to think about. Eventually she got herself a respectable price for the small pile of speed and defense enhancement chips. Not that Libra needed any enhancements, but Loki wasn't above asking for assistance from his temporary Tamer and his brother would only need the extra aid if he couldn't weasel his way around during a battle in the first place. 

A genuine smile crossed her lips then at the thought of her partner. Oh, she was supposed to have been a genuine Tamer of the Gennai Order, Ryo had been showing her the ropes for awhile now, but she liked the bond she shared with Libra and it was deeper by far than the temporary bonds she had with the other digimon she trained. Not that she didn't like the brothers she picked up over time, but she was just much more fond of Libra, and Libra understood her when the others didn't. 

It was while she strode out of Nanimon's items shop that it began. It was small at first, nothing more than a few gentle tremors in the earth. Then the tremors increased, becoming worse as the seconds passed and throwing anyone that was standing off balance. Kageko soon found herself thrown onto the streets and did not look up until the resounding boom of something very large exploding in the distance. Very large, and- 

Where there was once a mountain, there was nothing but rubble and a huge cloud of dust that would soon descend like a blanket over the town. Several digimon that were once around had now vanished during the earthquake, and everywhere there was a sense of wrongness, of something even more important being misplaced. 

Curious and slightly dazed, Kageko rose once the tremors ceased and began to wander towards Akira's house in hopes that Ken would be fine and exactly where she had left him. That mountain that seemed to have exploded for no logical reason she could fathom was the same one that Ryo had been sent up to. She hoped and prayed that Ryo would be all right. He had to be. Right...? 

Akira's house, or Gennai's as it was known while Akira was still walking around with his disguise, was unusually empty. Piccolomon was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Ken. Ken, where did he go... 

"Oh, there you are, Sakimoto," the disguised Tamer began as he stepped up from behind a door leading to a personal library. "I was hoping you were all right." 

Kageko ignored the boy for the moment to peek into the library. Ken wasn't there either, and worry began to settle heavily in her stomach. Ryo was on a mountain that exploded and Ken wasn't around at all. Digimon that were once trotting around town were missing too. What was going on? "Akira, where's Ken?" 

"Ken?" Akira looked honestly confused for all of a few seconds, the effect no doubt caused by his disguise's interference with his thought processes. "Oh, that other kid Akiyama's been training for the Order. I've sent him out to meet with Wormmon. The boy needs to learn to survive on his own-" 

"What?! Akira, Ken's just a little boy," Kageko exclaimed, stunned that anyone of the Gennai Order would send a little boy out in the Digital World without protection. Oshiro would never have allowed this! "Did you even send an escort with him just in case?" 

"No, of course not. Wormmon is very loyal, you see. Ken will be just fine. And then I'll have him go to that ziggurat in the ruins area to dig up some artifacts for me. Digimentals, I think they are. My mind is too cloudy in this form..." 

She couldn't believe it. How could he think such a thing? Had the shell program used as a disguise by the Gennai Order finally fried his brain? This was ridiculous! "But a wormmon has so few defenses, and they're useless in battle! Ken will be killed if he has to rely exclusively on a wormmon!" 

Completely ignoring the rise in her voice, Akira wandered over to a globe of the Digital World and looked at it as if he had never seen it before. "He'll be fine, there's nothing but baby digimon where he is. For the most part anyway. I think. It's been a while since I've been there." 

Kageko took in a deep breath in an attempt to still the anger that was building up within her. It would not do to lose her temper right now, when she knew nothing other than what Akira had already told her. "And Ryo, do you think he's-" 

"Don't know," the other Tamer shrugged. "With an explosion like that, it's likely he's dead. If somehow he manages to survive, he'll still be in a position where he can't help anyone." 

"And why is that?" 

The visage of Gennai cocked his head in thought. "Well, you see, something very strange happened. Yoshinaka, Piccolomon, and several other digimon seem to have disappeared completely. I'm not sure how, but whatever was on that mountain seems to have split this world in two. We're stuck on this world, Piccolomon and the others on the other world. Whatever has done this has also hampered some digimons' evolution processes, which is why I need Ichijouji to dig up all the digimentals he can. Use an older method of evolution, as it were." 

"And you're sending him with only a wormmon to protect him to a place that likely hasn't been touched in ages," Kageko asked as the hint of acid seeped into her voice. "Very smart of you, Akira." 

"Oh yes, it is a clever plan isn't it," the Tamer smiled, once again oblivious to the tension in her voice. 

Blinking in disbelief, Kageko continued. "Do you even have any idea what Ken might encounter in the ruins?" 

"No, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. Wormmon will be able to take care of him." 

The anger began to rise again. Did Akira completely forget what a wormmon **wasn't** capable of? How could he be so ignorant? "You're sending him to a place that might have hostile monsters lurking in the shadows, with a digimon that can't protect him. That is one of the stupidest things I have ever heard come from your mouth!" 

"He can't always have you and Akiyama watching over him," Akira stated in a voice that dripped of cool condescension, making her bristle even more. "This will be a good opportunity for him to prove himself. Don't you think?" 

"If anything was known about the ruins and if they were safe, I would agree. But-" At this Kageko reached forward to press a thumb against a tiny pin on 'Gennai's' chest. With the switch thumbed off, the shell program dissipated and left the much taller Tamer in its wake. This, of course, left her with an easier target. Before the other Tamer knew it, she had pulled back only to land a punch on his jaw that was heavy enough to knock him off balance and on his rear. "Ken is just a boy! If no one is going to watch him, he is going to get hurt! You are a complete idiot if you think I'll just stand by and watch you do this to him!" 

Groaning, Akira rubbed his jaw tenderly as he pulled himself off the floor. "Alright, fine. Go after him if you want. I **was** going to request that you investigate what's left of Millenniumon's mountain, but since you seem so **adamant** about following the kid I might as well ask the drimogemon next door." 

With a grunt of disgust, Kageko turned on her heels to exit the house and hunt down her three digimon. With Ryo gone and possibly dead, she was the one who would have to keep a closer eye on Ken. Make sure nothing ever went wrong. 

.~*~. 

Takeru woke up in cold sweat, with the feeling that something important was missing. The dream he had was strange, to say the least. He couldn't ever remember being in that place he saw in his dream, he couldn't ever remember the names his dream-self dropped other than the hints of a few here and there. But the memory of that dream was soon dissipating despite any attempts he made to grasp at the diminishing smoky tendrils. 

Yawning, Takeru pulled himself from the bed and went through the now mechanical process of getting dressed and preparing for school. Everything was so mundane and pointless now, nothing but Ken and Patamon even mattered to him anymore. And he could do much better in school, but he no longer cared. Where was it all going to get him anyway? Chained down behind a desk and pushing papers for the rest of his mundane life? 

There was to be a test in his math class later that morning. He hadn't studied for it, but the material was laughably easy. There was a time once when it would have boggled him, but now he could do nothing but sigh in boredom as he sped through formulas and algorithms in an attempt to finish his school work as soon as possible so that he would have time to focus on other matters. 

Once, while doing research for a paper, he had stumbled upon images of a castle called Neuschwanstein. The product of a mad Bavarian king whose death remained a mystery to this day, the castle was still quite breathtaking. Just like something out of a fairy tale. Perhaps it was a silly dream, but he wanted a castle of his own some day. Something he could share with Ken and basically live happily ever after. 

This world was old and tired, the romanticism of Western civilization's past aged into a bitter realism. This day and age, Big Brother was not a sinister and controlling entity, but the internet community at large. Vast pools of saved e-mails mutated into personal surveillance mechanisms, the internet a decentralized record of everyone's thoughts and feelings preserved on hard drives and server backups that would never really be rid of the ghosts of deleted mail. It was disturbing once he started thinking along those lines, for anything said online could be recovered and used against oneself. There was no place for privacy in this world anymore, no place for chivalry or romanticism. Worse, this world was likely never to return to simpler times and its people were unwilling to give up their selfish ways for the good of others. This world was no longer for him. 

He longed for a time and set of moral codes that he had only read about, for a chance to rebuild a society in his image. For a chance to give Ken a world where nothing would ever harm him. That world would have to be malleable, would have to be some place he knew intimately. Takeru cocked his head thoughtfully as he toyed with the nebulous beginnings of an idea once again. Ken's methods had been wrong, but if he did things differently, then... 

Patamon's whine for breakfast derailed his thoughts. Smiling at the simplicity of his digimon partner's life, Takeru picked up Patamon and with that gesture tossed aside his previous thoughts. School may be boring and far too easy for him now, but he'd have to go anyway. At least there would be time later to visit with Ken. 

.~*~. 

Hikari was concerned. This wasn't necessarily normal for her, but when her best friend disappeared for several weeks and came back with no memory of what happened, that was cause enough for consternation. Then, after he came back, he acted simply as if nothing happened. But he had become quieter, less likely to talk to her. He was also rather distracted now, but she simply attributed that to all the studying he must have been doing. He did seem to be doing better than normal in class, when he was paying attention. 

She had always known that Takeru could be a daydreamer at times when he was younger, but lately those daydreams seemed to occur with more and more frequency. Once, when a teacher had asked if he was paying attention, he automatically answered the questions as perfectly as if his head hadn't been in the clouds, and somehow that worried her. But then, he was probably just studying more. Right? 

Sighing, the girl poked halfheartedly at the contents of her bento box with a pair of worn bamboo chopsticks. Sticky white rice, shrimp tempura, marinated cucumbers, a sweet bun. None of it looked the least bit appetizing right now. However, simply poking at her food wasn't alleviating her worries, nor did it somehow increase her currently nonexistent appetite. Why was Takeru worrying her like this? He never did so before. She hated confrontation so much, but something was bugging her a lot and she couldn't quite figure out why. Resolving to do something about it, Hikari pulled the lid back over her bento box and wandered tentatively across the courtyard. 

The object of her worries sat alone at the base of a tree, his bento box long since empty. Sunlight filtered through leaves and danced like fairies across his features, it was as if the sun itself would do his bidding. Blinking at the oddness of that thought, Hikari simply sat beside her childhood friend and waited for him to begin conversation. 

"Hi, Hikari," Takeru grinned suddenly, looking as if he hadn't been lost in thought only a few minutes earlier. "How was your lunch?" 

Hikari gave a wan smile, it was just like him to pull something like that. "I don't have much of an appetite today." 

"Oh." That wasn't too unusual, Hikari never did eat much to begin with. But it wasn't often that she would simply walk up to him in the first place. "So, what's up?" 

Hikari pulled her knees to her chest as she contemplated how best to start her inquiries. She didn't want to inadvertently offend him, but if something was happening she wanted to know about it. Finally, with a great sigh that only barely hinted at her inner turmoil, she proceeded. "Takeru, is everything all right? You know you can talk to me about anything, right?" 

Blinking in curiosity at the oddity of Hikari's question, Takeru took a moment to gather his thoughts before responding. "Sure, everything's fine. Why do you ask?" 

"It's just, well, you're not focusing in class as much as you used to, but your grades have gotten better. I'm just thinking that maybe you might just be studying a lot more, but..." Hikari trailed off then, unsure that she wanted to voice that other thought, that maybe... "Has anything been going badly with you and Ken?" 

Takeru was silent, his face unreadable for a moment. "No, what makes you think that? Our relationship has been doing wonderfully." 

Relaxing now that her doubts were for naught, Hikari gave a slight smile. She really should have known better. "So it's just studying then. Don't stress yourself too much over school." 

"I'm fine," Takeru replied with a reassuring smile on his face. "Don't worry, Hikari, everything's all right." 

In the distance a bell chimed, ushering the students back to class. Some of those that were scattered around the courtyard soon rose and scampered off in fear of being late, others took their time. Takeru pulled himself up with a fluidity that once wasn't normal for him and offered her his hand. Smiling in amusement at his show of chivalry, Hikaru placed her hand in his and allowed him to pull her to her feet. This kind of thing had started off as a private joke between them when they were younger, but it eventually tapered off until it became a rarity. But, thanks to the gregarious nature of high school students, it kept potential suitors off of both of them. 

As the two old friends wandered towards their classroom, Hikari ruminated over that thought once again. She didn't mind the rumors that she and Takeru were involved with each other, for it kept others from inquiring too deeply about Takeru's relationship with Ken. Oh, she knew that such a relationship was not scorned upon nearly as much as it would have been were they in the Americas, but it was still different and anything different was a source of bullying in any school in the world. This also had the additional bonus of keeping other boys from trying to ask her out. The attention could be frightening at times and she really didn't think she was ready to be involved with anyone romantically. Daisuke's fervor when they first met honestly scared her, but she never said anything, never wanted to confront him about it. At least he seemed to have found someone else to moon over now and the tension between them had eventually dissolved. 

The two settled into their desks, ignoring the whispers that started up during their entrance and later tapered off once the teacher walked in and began class. At one point during class, Takeru passed her a note. It was a simple thing written in scrawling hiragana on the back of a napkin and only took her a second to read. Before the teacher turned his attention to her, she slipped it under her notebook. 

It was a fairly inconspicuous note, really. All Takeru said was that he needed to do some things after class by himself, and she would have to walk home alone or with Miyako. No problem there. Once the teacher returned to the blackboard, Hikari pulled the note back out and wrote a simple "OK" under the words before handing it back to Takeru. What was she to worry about anyway? Takeru could take care of himself, and he did say everything was fine. She really shouldn't be having these misgivings that kept nagging at the back of her mind. 

.~*~. 

In the Digital World, the resident monsters were often rendered with few purposes. Those that were created to bond with a Chosen Child were programmed with extra code that bonded them to their human. Never before in the history of the Digital World had a Chosen Child died, until Sakimoto Kageko was killed on Earth and left her Black Tailmon alone. Thus, the dead code labelled as 'orphaned' by the Gennai of that time festered. Libra's mind snapped when Kageko died and she disappeared into the wilderness, rarely to be seen again. With Libra's departure, 'Gennai' ended up having to add another word to the Tamers' Lexicon for what she went through. 'De-rezz' was a kinder word than 'mental and/or moral deterioration', and had already been used long before by hackers and computer programmers on Earth. 

So word was that the Black Tailmon's mind had de-rezzed, and that she should not be approached if at all possible. Libra wasn't a big enough threat to gain the attention of the Holy Beasts, but her disregard for life and living things kept her as far away from civilization as was possible. Those that dared cross her met with a quick end. She shunned living things and was shunned in turn. 

Libra simply wandered aimlessly. She had lost so much: the brothers, her human partner. Oh, she had seen the death of one of the brothers, remembered crying out in horror and agony as Millenniumon's attack ripped through the devidramon. Then the center of her universe died in the other world and she had felt it as if her own soul had been ripped in two. The other brother was still alive and had joined the one who was supposed to protect Kageko. She hated him for it. Hated them both. Neither of them should be alive, not when they didn't do anything to save her human. 

And _him_, the human that was supposed to have protected Kageko. Libra snarled at the thought of him and lashed out to shred an unsuspecting bush. She hadn't minded him at first, he was a nice guy after all, and meant well. But then the little things began popping up once Ken joined the party during their third quest, when the population started calling them the Tag Tamers. _He_ started being more reclusive and made Kageko sick with worry, but Kageko simply held in all her doubts and worries until they festered. Libra could remember clearly when her human had pulled her away from the brothers for the moment, needing some time to think. What she heard infuriated her. 

_He_ did not deserve her human, not after what he did. When _ he_ tried to calm her when Kageko died, she raked claws down anything she could come in contact with and ran as far away from him as she could. Now she wandered, the seed of hope lingering in her mind suggesting that perhaps she could find Kageko again. She had pushed it away so often, for hope was meaningless. There was no hope for her. 

The surroundings were familiar, but she didn't care enough to recall where she was. She hadn't cared in a very long time. She wandered in silence for a while, until she heard it. It was a boy's voice, firm and kind, yet it carried an oddly familiar inflection. Only the Tamers of the Gennai Order ever used that inflection... 

Curious, Libra crept along the underbrush to watch. She didn't know why, but something within her longed for the boy's presense. There was something familiar about him, something that reminded her of Kageko. But why? 

The boy stood tall and proud as he spoke to a small group of vaccines. What it was about, she didn't care. His hair was too golden, his eyes too blue, his skin too dark, but something in his stance and his voice reminded her of Kageko. He simply felt like Kageko. He was intriguing and bore watching. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Ajora: Yes yes, I know this was a bit delayed. Sorry, I hope to have the next chapter out sooner. De-rezz is a term that originated from the movie _Tron_ as a sort of slang refering to someone who has 'fuzzed out' mentally rather than physically. Ironically, it has occassionally been adopted by hackers years after the fact. 


	4. The Sun

Knight of Swords  
Chapter 4: The Sun  
-by Ajora Fravashi  


---------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The formation he used for both parties was something he used since he was younger. The weakest digimon in each party had to be sent to the back, the strongest and the one with the best defenses in the front. It was quite simple, really, every RPG used that formation. But every now and then one of the digimon would forget their place in the formation and have to be reminded. 

Ken brushed the stray hair from his eyes as he watched the two parties train against each other. It had been somewhat troublesome at first, for many digimon still remembered what he did as the Kaiser, but eventually he had won their trust. A tentative trust, perhaps, but at least it was something to start with. Another thing that nagged at the back of his mind was that they expected either that he would eventually turn against them again or that he should train them exactly as Ryo had done. He was not the Kaiser any longer, nor did he have Ryo's experience and likely could not live up to those particular expectations. It was distressing at times. 

And then there were the assignments he was given by the Holy Beasts every now and then, which he assumed were Ryo's responsibilities before the exile. On the surface they just looked like little tasks anyone could do: check on the Holy Stones, make sure the protective spheres and firewalls were at full strength, analyze the reports from various digimon and filter anything of any importance to whichever Holy Beast decided to deal with him that week, and he was sure that there were even more tasks that they just hadn't bothered to notify him of for the time being. The job devoured more and more of his free time, something he was certain that Takeru was beginning to like less as time went on. 

Takeru... He liked Takeru a lot, but he was hard pressed to find any time lately to be with him. The others didn't know of his job, which left Daisuke and Miyako asking questions that he really didn't want to answer, and that was assuming that he was free to do so. Sighing at that thought, Ken took a defense chip when it looked like the penmon was starting to take more than his fair share of hits and pressed it into a small slot in his digivice to increase the creature's defenses. The training could be one of the most boring parts of this job. 

It was during a second round that another being wandered into the solitary training grounds. He didn't have to take his attention from the two parties, he knew who it was well enough. Only one other human knew where he did such things. 

"Keeping them busy," Takeru asked from somewhere close behind him. Smiling, Ken turned to get a better look at his boyfriend. Takeru was dressed in his school uniform, he must have skipped his after school activities to watch. 

"Not as busy as they've been keeping me," he stated dryly. Once Takeru took a seat next to him on a weather-worn boulder, he sighed and laid his head on Takeru's shoulder. "I wish I had more time to spend with you." 

A soft smile crossed Takeru's face at that as he draped his arm around Ken's shoulders. Even a little time with Ken was worth it. He wanted more, though, so much more. But soon he would be able to have Ken constantly at his side. His operations had been miniscule to avoid worrying Ken, deals were made with powerful vaccines and noble datas during the times he was supposed to eat lunch in the real world. This had gone on for months, but soon summer break would come, and with it the completion of his dream. Then he would work to build a world that would be perfect for his Ken. 

His Ken. No one else was worthy of Ken's attention. The smile on Takeru's face disappeared as his thoughts paused on the subject of Daisuke. Daisuke was being a complete pest of late, demanding to know where Ken always disappeared to now. He'd have to do something about Daisuke before the goggle boy decided to be more overt and take away _his_ boyfriend. He had a plan, but it had to be timed precisely. 

Ken pulled away once the second round of training was over and called for a ten minute break. The digimon dispersed in no time to raid the snacks that had been set aside. With that done, he glanced curiously back at Takeru who seemed to be lost in thought. "What are you thinking about?" 

Quickly Takeru shoved those thoughts away to the back of his mind as he smiled up at his boyfriend. Another thought then wormed its way to the front of his mind as he watched gentle winds tug at Ken's hair. Ken was everything he ever wanted, ever needed from another being. He had long come to enjoy every moment he was with his boyfriend. Perhaps it was time now to put those feelings to words. "Not much. Did I ever mention that I love you?" 

Time seemed to stop as Ken blinked in surprise at Takeru's words. Love? Him? But why, what triggered this? His mind pranced circles around those words. He liked Takeru a lot, really, but this was just so fast... What on earth could he possibly respond with? Was Takeru even expecting a response? "I... uhm..." 

Takeru smiled gently at his boyfriend's stammering and touched a finger to Ken's lips. "It's a hard thing to admit, I know. Don't worry about needing to respond immediately." 

Ken simply nodded as Takeru pulled the finger away. At least there was no pressure for the time being, but it was all so confusing right now that he really didn't know what to do or say. And yet... and yet it felt so nice knowing that someone he cared so much about loved him. Moments passed before either of them said anything, the silence only broken by the sound of the digimon in the background playing with each other or devouring food. Sighing as his emotions seemed intent on floating in a happy little haze, the Child of Kindness slipped back into his boyfriend's arms. That was unexpected, yes, but perhaps... 

Takeru's voice drew him from his haze, and it took him a moment for the words to register in his mind. "So, do you have any plans for summer break?" 

"No, none yet," Ken admitted, though he knew that he would probably be spending it doing various tasks that his job as Ryo's successor demanded. "Why do you ask?" 

With an uncharacteristically mysterious smile on Takeru's face, the Child of Hope responded: "Oh, I was thinking we could spend it alone, together. Perhaps in an out of the way place here in the Digital World. If you're up for it, of course." 

Alone? Ken pondered that for the moment. Takeru had expressed interest in being more intimate than Ken was comfortable with due to some unpleasantness in his past, but so far didn't press on the matter. It was ridiculous for him to dwell on the past, but it was hard to get over the pain. It figured that he'd be an emotional masochist. With a wan smile, he simply nodded and called out for his trainees. He still had a few weeks, maybe he should take some time to figure himself out before then. 

.~*~. 

She kept herself within the shadows and well out of sight as she wandered the perimeter. The boy that felt like Kageko reborn was building something here. It stood out pale and orderly in sharp contrast against the craggy, haphazardly placed cliffs of the Segfault mountains. He had used force of personality along with promises, most of which she wasn't close enough to hear, to convince many digimon to aid in the building of this place. She hadn't caught the name of it, for it did not concern her. All she cared about was the insubstantial hint of her human bondmate in the boy. 

The boy had a patamon as a partner, she had come to learn, though the patamon seemed quite clueless where his human's plans were concerned. The poor little thing was so innocent that he wasn't aware of the true purpose of this construct. But she was, she understood why the walls were so thick and why the openings of the outer walls were more like slits than actual windows. Castles were not built for romanticism, they were built in expectation of war. Defenses first and design second. Was the boy truly aware of what he was doing? 

The boy, the boy. Her mind seemed insistent on revolving around him, around the hope that he carried Kageko's spirit and he would make her complete again. She wanted to approach him, but shadowy doubts made her tentative. Would he accept her or push her away? Did he really have Kageko's spirit or was she simply projecting her wishes onto him because of a few similarities he shared with her human? 

With a sigh, the black tailmon crawled under the canvas that covered a wheelbarrow that was only half full of gravel and made herself as comfortable as possible for a short nap. The boy wasn't here and would not be back for a while. She would wait for his return before taking the first tentative steps towards confronting him. 

.~*~. 

_ Ken had asked her once why she was so pale and her hair so white. He had done so while she had her hands deep in the soils of the Digital World, she was doing an experiment on whether or not Earth vegetation could grow here. She did not look up from her seedlings as she answered that her appearance was the effect of albinism, she was simply so used to the questions from classmates that her reply was automatic. The second question he asked was just as expected. "My eyes aren't red because the idea that albinos have red eyes are just a myth," she replied simply. "Because albinos like me have so little pigmentation, our eyes are usually either light blue or violet, though they may look somewhat red in certain lighting." He fell silent then. _

It was one of the few peaceful moments they had together. They were taking a brief reprieve for the moment and were waiting for Ryo to finish his part of the quest on the other side of the split Digital World before continuing. She hated being away from her boyfriend for so long, but Ken needed her for support. 

But then that begged the question, was Ryo even really her boyfriend anymore? Had they ever really been that close to begin with? It was so frustrating at times to not know things for certain. 

Kageko paused as a pale green-grey spider skittered over the roots of one of the plants she had brought from Earth. It had built a small web among the leaves and stems of the little mint plant, one that had been damaged when she reached out to place it in a freshly dug hole. She wondered if it knew where it was and that it would be eaten faster than it could find sustenance. Hardly likely. She felt almost sorry for it. 

There was some scuffing as Ken knelt at her side and patted the soil soundly around one of the plants in an attempt to be helpful. He was such a nice little boy, he didn't deserve losing his brother like he did and having to deal with their quest soon after. He was far too young to have been thrust into this madness Millenniumon triggered, too young to have seen the death and destruction the evil god digimon wrought. Thankfully it wasn't as bad this time around as it had been when it was only Ryo and her against Millenniumon, but still... 

"Oshiro's dead," Ken stated slowly, as if he couldn't quite grasp the reality of it. Surprised, she shifted her gaze from her plants to the little boy. Ken's face was devoid of emotion. "That's what Akira said when Ryo reported to the Reload Machine earlier." 

The trowel she was using dropped as her grip on it loosened in shock. It was pretty much accepted that Oshiro would die eventually, for tales of his narrow escape from Piemon's raid on the main research center were still told to all who were interested. It was only a matter of time before the package Piemon planted into his back would kill him. But still, it was someone she had known for quite a while now. Oshiro was what Ryo would probably grow up to be in a few years: tall, handsome, affable and confident. She'd be an idiot if she denied liking him. It was too soon... 

"Did Ryo say anything at the Reload Machine?" 

Ken shook his head, face still blank. "He's taking some time to convert the codewalker before unlocking the machine city for us. Nothing other than that." 

With a sigh that did nothing to convey her sense of loss, Kageko gathered up her gardening tools and set them back in their box before rising. There was no point in trying to progress any further for the moment. She suddenly felt as small and helpless as the little spider that was now trying to rebuilt its web. They all probably did, especially Ken. 

The two would-be Tamers of the Gennai Order strode in silence towards their cottage. There had been a small party once the place was done. Akira, Oshiro, Youji, Kazuya, Marie, Ivan, Rieko, Sae, and Ikkei had all been in attendance. They were the full ranks of the Gennai Order, and now only Akira and Ryo were left since she and Ken only counted as Chosen Children. It was so hard to fathom. 

From the shadows in the house came Libra and Wormmon, with the brothers following close behind. The two partnered digimon understood what their humans were going through and offered what support they could. In time even Ken's attempt at being strong crumbled and he too cried with his partner in his arms. 

.~*~. 

Takeru frowned at his complexion in the bathroom mirror. Something just seemed wrong about his appearance of late. Shouldn't he be paler? Maybe he had just been out in the sun too long. Everything was off and he couldn't quite figure out why. Grumbling at that, he stepped away and resumed normal morning duties. 

Today was going to be important. He was sealing a deal with a particularly influential Unimon with a prejudice against viruses that mirrored his own. With the treaty sealed he could proceed with his plans and purge the Digital World of evil. And with that done he could finally have a place where Ken would never be hurt again. It was a nice dream, and so close to being realized now. 

Patamon glanced up from a muffin as he entered the kitchen area, wide blue eyes full of innocent curiosity. "What are we gonna do today, Takeru?" 

The Child of Hope grinned down at his partner as he picked up a muffin for himself from the plate that Patamon had been hogging. "What we've been doing for a while now, making the Digital World a better place." Patamon, pleased with the answer, resumed chowing down on his muffin and left Takeru with his thoughts. 

A better world where only good reigned and evil was easily smote down. He did not want to rule this world, he didn't have the skill. But if he gave Ken a second chance he was certain that his beloved would do a better job. Ken no longer had the Dark Seed, after all, and was of sound mind and judgement now. For the most part. But he wouldn't put Ken on the throne yet, for his boyfriend would surely protest his methods. No, he would wait until after the Digital World was cleansed. Until then he would act as Regent. 

Lord Regent Takeru. He liked the sound of that. 

With cheer triggered by the eventual fruition of his plans, Takeru hummed to himself as he stuffed a few necessities in his backpack and wrote an anonymous e-mail to a certain someone he needed in a specific area should all go well with the Unimon. He'd send it later, once he was sure that everything would go as planned. Now that all the loose ends were tied up, Takeru called for Patamon before opening up a digital gate. 

.~*~. 

The sun shone bright yet pale on the village of Shichup. Had it not been for the Hokkaido Utari Association's attempt to revive old Ainu traditions, the village would have long been abandoned. Children now roamed in places where elders once believed would never be brightened by a child's presence again. The kotan, or village, was about as traditional as one could get these days. It was located near a river basin and its houses composed of the grasses and bark of trees that grew there. Past the cluster of family houses were outhouses and storage facilities, religious altars and meat-drying racks. Then there were the small, cultivated fields just beyond and the hunting grounds even further. It was quaint, if one was into that sort of thing. 

Akira was far from pleased at being dragged to this backwater place in the middle of nowhere, but he had a job to do and the pay was better than he normally got working cameras in NHK's newsroom. An eccentric director wanted to do a documentary on the Ainu everyday life and offered him a handsome amount of money if he'd go along. Never one to turn such an opportunity down, he went along with two cameras, tapes, dolly, portable generator and a hell of a lot of cables in tow. Countryside just wasn't his element though, and it reminded him too much of _that place_. Really, he'd be much happier back in Tokyo. 

He wandered the dirty paths of the village even now with video camera tucked under one arm and accessory bag slung over his shoulder. He had just recharged the battery, so it would be good for a few hours should the weird old man decide that he suddenly shoot a scene out of nowhere. Fortunately, Iwata was currently distracted with talking to the town's elders through a translator. Unfortunately, some little half-naked Ainu kid was following him. 

The kid's attention was drawn away when the sound of an approaching motorcycle drifted on the winds. Curious and in hopes that the new arrival would relieve him of his immense boredom, Akira stepped forward to see who it was. When he got a good enough view, he paused in surprise. 

It was almost as if he had seen a ghost, but the ghost in question had been converted to one of the protective spheres of _that place_ long ago. There was one other option, but what the hell was Akiyama Ryo doing _here_? 

Mindless of the kids that were now clustering around Ryo, Akira pushed past them until he got Ryo's attention. To some minute satisfaction he noticed that Ryo was as surprised to see him as he was to see the other. 

"Irankarapte!" exclaimed the kid that had originally been stalking Akira. Ryo snapped out of his surprise and waved cheerfully at the child. Then, to Akira's surprise, the child pointed to him. "Toankur hunna an?" 

Akira felt Ryo's hand clap soundly on his shoulder as he responded. "Toankur anakne Akira ne." 

"Keraman wa." The child stared curiously at Akira for a few seconds before his eyes fell on the bag securely strapped to the back of the motorcycle's seat. Those muddy brown eyes then shone in delight and what was no doubt recognition. "Ryo! Topenpe ke yakka pirka ya? Enkore? Topenpe ke rusuy..." 

The other children soon babbled in delight, echoing the words of the first one. With a sound that was more of amusement than anything else, Ryo unzipped the bag and drew out a handful of candybars. "Yakun pirka," he said, and the kids squealed in joy as he passed out candy. There were several rounds of "iyayiraykere!" and "hioy'oy!" before most of them ran off with their new prizes. Akira assumed those were supposed to be variations on "thanks". 

The one child that remained, the one that had been following Akira earlier, gave a clumsy attempt at a Japanese-style bow. "Suy unukaran ro," the child murmured before straightening and running off to join his friends. 

Well, it was nice to see some things never changed, like Ryo's habit of spoiling little kids. It was still somewhat disconcerting to see a self-styled computer nerd go tribal, though. 

"Long time no see," Ryo started as he kicked the ancient motorcycle's stand into position after zipping his bag back up. "So what brings you all the way out to the middle of nowhere?" 

Akira shrugged. "Eh, job. And what the hell are you doing in this world? I thought you were bound _there_ for life." 

"Would you believe the Holy Beasts exiled me?" Much to Akira's surprise, Ryo's voice held not the slightest trace of bitterness or sarcasm. "They have Ken taking my place though, so the Order still marches on." 

Well, that was a surprise. Akira had had it beaten into his head that Chosen Children could not become members of the Gennai Order since the day he joined. Only Tamers could, that had always been The Way. He seemed to remember that there was a good reason for it and that Ryo had found a loophole in the system that at least allowed him to train Kageko and Ken as Tamers, but he didn't think that loophole extended far enough for Ken to pick up the robes and shell program. Very strange. And exile? What the hell happened? 

Shaking his head, Akira simply accepted things as they were. Best to leave the subject of the Digital World alone, he didn't want to be dragged back into the politics anymore. "So what have you been up to?" 

"Teaching mostly," replied Ryo, who gestured that they find somewhere else to talk. "Some of these kids have digimon partners of their own and don't always know how to handle them, so every now and then I help train their partners too. What about you?" 

Akira muttered under his breath at that. The influx of digimon had been an unexpected side-effect of the BelialVandemon battle and quite unpleasant for someone who didn't want anything to do with the Digital World anymore, but he had come to live with it. "Camera job at NHK. Married to Kim of all people. It's not too bad a life." 

The cameraman didn't notice the brief dismal look that passed over Ryo's face, for they were walking side by side to a fallen log near the fields. They talked for a bit of job-related things, careful not to dredge up memories better left untouched. But conversation tended to inevitably home in on the subject neither wanted to bring up. 

"Does yours still work," Ryo asked as he fished out his digivice from a pocket under his jacket. It was lifeless, it had been since the exile. Yet sometimes he felt himself wanting to go back to the Digital World, and the knowledge that he couldn't ached considerably. 

Frowning, Akira dragged his own out. It was one of the older models, pale blue and somewhat rectangle in shape with the points rounded off and inverted. "Yeah, occasionally. Haven't been back since I retired, so the thing hasn't really been able to recharge." 

Ryo glanced over at Akira's digivice in sudden interest. He was pretty sure that the devices were the same save for the differences in chassis shape and that the D-3s had more programs, but all he'd really need to replace in his own digivice was a fried processor chip and circuitry. Nothing he couldn't do on his own given a few hours alone with electrician's tools. "You don't plan on ever using that again, do you?" 

Shaking his head, Akira dropped his digivice into Ryo's open hand. "If you want it, it's yours. I can't see why you want it, though." 

"You don't feel the compulsion to protect the Digital World anymore, you gave that up when you retired. It's different for me because I didn't leave by choice," Ryo murmured as he turned the old digivice over in his hands. Grafting the parts from it to his own D-3 wouldn't be hard, but the tricky part would be in getting the Digital World's protective spheres to accept him. His digivice's ident was still keyed into that world's system, after all. But maybe... 

Maybe he could recode the digivice's identity markers. Coding had never been his strong point, but this was the only way he could get back in. Perhaps he should get back in touch with a few old friends beforehand. Reactivate the Furekim. He certainly had the means to do so, for he didn't think all the back doors to Gennai's computer were completely sealed off. Just had to find the right one. 

.~*~. 

"Then the treaty is sealed. Thank you very much for your time, Unimon." Takeru gave a bow as he said this, giving the illusion that the unimon wasn't actually eating right out of his hand. "I look forward to working with you in the future." 

The unimon dipped his head in acknowledgement. "It will be the beginning of a brave new world. But did you not want something done before we meet again?" 

A smile graced Takeru's lips at the thought. "Oh yes, I had almost forgotten. There is a boy who will stand in my way when the cleansing begins, I'm sure I told you about him. Incapacitate him but don't kill him, I don't want a codewalker on my hands." 

"You are certain he will interfere with our plans," queried the Unimon, a glimmer of doubt crossing his face. 

"He will fight us every step of the way," the Lord Regent stated simply with a confidence that was not to be questioned. "He would not understand what we're trying to do. It's better in the long run to get him out of the way before we proceed." 

Another low dip of the head as the unimon gave his consent. "Very well then. Have him drawn to the designated area and I shall have him taken care of. Farewell, Lord Regent." 

Takeru waved pleasantly as the unimon spread his wings and flew away. As much as Takeru liked his partner, Patamon wouldn't understand either, and it was for the best that he had the creature occupied with food and toys while he was hammering out the details of his plans with the unimon. Smiling, he opened up the D-terminal and pressed the send button on the anonymous e-mail. 

With all his important tasks done for the day, Takeru strode across the courtyard of his castle. It was still a work in progress and not yet ready for his occupation, but he did like coming out here to watch as the teams of digimon cheerfully worked away. He had told them honestly that the castle was to protect them should some great evil like Devimon attack again, and they were more than willing to offer their aid. 

He was happy. Everything was falling into place without a hitch. The vaccines and datas that worked for him trusted him beyond a shadow of a doubt. In an hour or so he'd rid of the pest that might try to stand between him and his beloved. The sun was shining brightly and there was not a cloud in the sky. It was truly a marvelous day. 

The glint of gold eyes hidden in shadows drew his attention then. They gleamed from under the canvas that covered a wheelbarrow, but soon disappeared when he turned to face it. Curious, he stepped up to pull away the heavy cloth. 

A black tailmon squatted there, half-curled on top of a pile of gravel. Her ears were partially flattened back in wariness as he leaned over her. She was a virus, and as far as he was concerned all viruses were evil, but somehow he could not bring himself to hate her. No, something about her appealed to something deep within him. She was familiar somehow. 

The black cat hissed softly then. Her voice thin and fragile, as if she hadn't used it in years. "Kageko..." 

Takeru blinked in surprise. Wasn't the Kageko girl dead? "I'm sorry, my name is Takeru. You're Libra, aren't you?" 

There was a moment's hesitation before Libra gave the smallest of nods. She was still uncertain about him, but at least her ears weren't as flat anymore. Takeru reached out to touch the cat, but she cringed the moment he moved to do so. Mentally shrugging at that, he pulled his hand away. "So, what brings you here?" 

Libra uncurled from her position and hopped from the wheelbarrow to the dirty courtyard grounds. "I... don't know. You feel like Kageko. L- let me join you." 

Join him? Takeru turned that thought over in him mind. Libra could be useful and part of him wanted to accept her, but there was the unimon to contend with. He would keep her in the shadows then, for the time being. It was silly to deny her, after all. 

With an easy smile that was more genuine than he could imagine, the Lord Regent gave a simple nod. "Of course. Welcome aboard, Libra." 

---------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Ajora: Just a few notes here. The Reload Machine in Tag Tamers allowed Ryo and Ken to communicate with each other while still apart. 'Shichup' means 'high sun' in Ainu, everything else should be understandable from the actions described. 


	5. The Hierophant

Knight of Swords  
Chapter 5: The Hierophant  
-by Ajora Fravashi

*Disclaimer: I own Digimon. Really. And a bridge in California for anyone who believes that. 

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Yoshinaka Reiko thumbed through the readings given to her by the scientists that monitored the Dark Seed's progress. When Oikawa had watched Ichijouji, he had done so alone, without the aid of better technology and only those hybrid mutants he called his creations as his eyes and ears. Now that the syndicate had a greater interest in the Digital World, she had more resources at her disposal. 

Her thoughts circled back to the subject of her predecessor. He had been a man driven by obsession and unable to cope with his friend's death. The syndicate had seen him as an easy target and he was so blinded by his obsession that he failed to see that the money they dangled in front of his face to get him to continue his work was nothing but bait. Oikawa had taken the bait and his research used to supplement their own. Did he even know that he had been a puppet? 

A frown crossed her face then. She would have to step carefully if she was to avoid being a pawn in whatever the syndicate's plans were. Shaking her head at that thought, she studied the readings in closer detail. 

So much new, experimental technology was being used on the Takaishi boy for the sake of their grand plots. One particularly notable device, a neurochip, had been implanted shortly after the sowing of the Dark Seed. Its function may have been simple, but considering the size restrictions and just how much programming was involved just to get the thing to do what was needed when the time came, it was an acceptable limitation. For now, however, it was running its background function: to record the Dark Seed's progress and various brain waves. According to the charts, things seemed to be going as well as they expected. They were still unsure of what the boy was doing with his newfound abilities, but surely information would reach them sooner or later. It was all a matter of time. 

.~*~. 

"All a matter of time," a hagurumon muttered to himself as he hovered from his console once his replacement showed up. The mushmon waved cheerfully to him as he passed. Before he could exit the monitor room, though, the mushmon paused to grab his attention. 

"How goes things on the system?" 

Hagurumon hummed thoughtfully at that question. It was difficult keeping tabs on the boy their Tamer asked them to watch, but they had to make do with what little information reached them. "I think he's gathering his forces slowly, but I'm not sure. There's not much information to go on and his loyalists don't like to talk to the likes of us." That last sentence was given with an air of disgust at the arrogance the vaccines were starting to display towards them, causing what passed as the mushmon's eyebrows to rise in surprise. "It's as if he knows we're watching. But I don't know how." 

Blinking, the mushmon took a moment to digest that bit of information. "How can he? Our organization has always been one of the best kept secrets in this world. Do you think-" 

"No," interrupted the hagurumon, quite emphatically. "Our Tamer never told anyone about us and never would. The only ones who did know have been dead for a very long time." 

Mushmon shrugged in dismissal. "If you say so. Better ask the next time our Tamer tries to contact us again." 

With what could pass as more of a bow than a nod, the hagurumon resumed his almost lazy hovering out the monitor room doorway and down the corridor. 

He was one of the many digimon Ryo trained but had yet to acquire a human partner. Thus, he and his fellow partnerless digimon acted as Ryo's eyes and ears when the Tamer could not watch the proceedings of the Digital World himself. They ended up calling themselves the Furekim, or Autumn Mountain in the Ainu tongue. They were supposed to have gone inactive once Ryo was exiled, but far be it for them to abandon the tasks they took up by choice. This was what they believed they were meant to do. 

Then just yesterday their Tamer had contacted Lynxmon, one of the major digimon in their group who was unique because he was a vaccine. Vaccines were rare in the Furekim for their organization was, for some unknown reason, mostly viral. It was the first time since Ryo's exile that any of them heard from him, and a wave of excitement came over them all once Lynxmon replayed a recording of the conversation. They had a real purpose again. 

But according to Lynxmon, their Tamer could not yet return to the Digital World. The one communication he opened up with the adult vaccine was audio-only and said to have been possible because Ryo had finally hacked into the only open port in Gennai's computer. It was something substantial though, something they could work with and something that gave hope to the younger, more dependent members of the group. 

And so they would wait and watch. Hagurumon paused as he looked out the window of the complex that looked like nothing more than a small mountain of metal parts to the rest of the world. Something out there was making him feel incredibly uncomfortable, something he couldn't quite put a gear on. Whatever it was, he hoped it would go away as soon as possible. The wait was unbearable. 

.~*~. 

Pegasumon clapped a hoof impatiently on a rock-strewn mountain trail as Takeru kept an eye on some point in the distance. From what his partner said, Pegasumon assumed that this was going to be the day Takeru would show Ken the castle. Takeru had been planning it for a while and Pegasumon was eager to hear Ken's response to their project. It had been built for Ken, after all. 

Unlike Wormmon, who had a possessive streak that was downright frightening at times, Pegasumon came to like Ken and liked Ken's relationship with his partner. It had been good for both boys, and for the life of him he couldn't see why Wormmon didn't understand that. Maybe he should have a talk with Wormmon about that at some point. Speaking of, it was probably a good thing Takeru asked Ken to leave Wormmon and Nahualmon with the other kids for the time being. Wormmon would be an annoyance at best. 

His partner sat upon a weather-worn boulder, staring at the mysterious silver crest and D-3 he had found after the abduction. Takeru had explained to him not long ago that he felt that they were given to him for a reason, and Pegasumon still wasn't sure what to think of it. His partner had shown him the silver sword, Truth, and said that maybe this was his new attribute. 

The wind shifted, carrying with it a familiar scent. Pegasumon tossed his mane in satisfaction as he glanced over to his partner. Takeru looked up curiously at him, and he nodded towards the trail. With thinly veiled excitement, the Child of Hope stood from his boulder and straightened out his clothes before stuffing the silver D-3 and crest into a pocket. Pegasumon didn't quite understand why he did this whenever Ken or the other children were visiting, but humans were just funny that way. 

Ken appeared soon enough, dressed in a simple white buttoned shirt and grey slacks. It was hardly a unique outfit, but it was enough to grab Takeru's attention. Of course, as far as Takeru was concerned, Ken looked good in anything. His grin softening to an affectionate smile, Takeru stepped forth to take Ken's hands in his own. "I was hoping you would get here soon." 

"I'm sorry I was a bit late. I had some trouble convincing Miyako to take care of Wormmon and Nahualmon for the moment," Ken said with a light smile on his face. With any other person he might have bowed apologetically, but he simply didn't need to do so around Takeru. 

"Oh. Well then," Takeru began as he stretched out a hand to gesture towards Pegasumon, "shall we proceed?" 

Cocking an eyebrow at this, Ken simply allowed his boyfriend to help him up on Pegasumon's back. He had never been one for surprises, but this seemed to be important to Takeru, so he would simply go along with the game for the time being. Takeru slipped behind him as soon as he made himself comfortable and, as expected, slipped his arms around him to grab hold of the pegasus' mane. It did feel nice having Takeru's arms around him, but he really should save those thoughts for when they were alone. 

With the weight of two humans, a vertical take-off would have been difficult for Pegasumon to handle on the best of days. However, the region was well-suited for his other method of achieving flight. There was no shortage of nearby cliffs. As Pegasumon galloped down a trail to build up his momentum, he noticed an airdramon in flight not very far away. Must have been Ken's transportation to this place. His metal-clad hooves clapped loudly against the stones and his breath quickened with effort before he found an outcrop and, with a final burst of adrenaline, launched himself from it. 

Ken's heart nearly skipped a beat as his boyfriend's partner dropped off a cliff. The cream-colored wings spread open only a second later to catch an updraft that carried them well away from the mountain. After catching a quick breath to steady himself once Pegasumon's flight evened out, Ken leaned back to make sure Takeru would be able to hear him. "So, what did you want to show me?" 

Grinning at that, Takeru rested his chin on his boyfriend's shoulder as he wrapped an arm around Ken in a brief hug. "Oh, you'll see soon enough." 

The Child of Kindness gave a noncommittal grunt. What was it about what Takeru needed to show him that was so secretive? More to the point, why was Takeru acting this way of late? While he knew Takeru had a few secrets he was loathe to share with many people, Ken knew them all for the most part. But this was different. It was like Takeru wasn't talking to him as much as usual. This wouldn't bother him so much if it was, say, Hikari or even Iori, but Takeru usually told him everything. Now it seemed like Takeru was hiding something, something greater than what his boyfriend said he would show him. 

Maybe it was nothing he had to worry about. This was Takeru, after all. What was there to worry about? Takeru always did what he felt the right thing was. Maybe all the things Takeru wasn't talking to him about recently were related to the kidnapping and Takeru would tell him eventually. Maybe he was just thinking too hard about all this. Sighing, Ken closed his eyes to the wind battering against them as Pegasumon's flight increased in speed. 

There was nothing unique about the Segfault mountain range, at least when one considers the natural strangeness of the Digital World. It was as if a great many titans had come along eons ago and raked their claws through wet clay and left it there to harden. Ken had seen them from the air often enough that he didn't bother to open his eyes and take in the view. It was only when Pegasumon began to settle into a slow circling pattern that Ken opened his eyes. Takeru's free hand pulled away from around his midriff to point at a spot nestled against the randomly-situated crags. 

Jutting proud and strong from the haphazard granite teeth was a white castle whose beauty was in the orderly construction that contrasted sharply with the mountains' chaotic cliffs and peaks. Ken's eyes widened unconsciously at the idea of just how much work must have been put in to build it on such inhospitable grounds. From a strategic standpoint, it was perfect in its inaccessibility to all but an aerial force. Unless there was an underground passage, though, it could be vulnerable to sieges. However, Takeru was smart and had probably already thought of that. But why would Takeru build this? _How_ had he built it and how long had he been working on it? It certainly wasn't there the last time Ken had been in this region. 

"That, my Ken, is for you," Takeru said over the sounds of the wind, his voice tinged with pride. 

No response came to Ken's mind for those simple words. This was all so bewildering. What on earth could he possibly say to that? No one had ever gone through such great lengths for him before. But still those questions nagged at the back of his mind. It would be inconsiderate for him to ask them though, at least for now. 

Everything about the castle was European in influence. The high curtain walls were thicker than most medieval castles could claim. They circled the inner walls, barracks and courtyards and had a drum tower at every corner. There was a barbican that straddled the single road to the castle, it probably housed an iron portcullis that could block ground-based invasions. In the courtyards were gardens tended to by several digimon he couldn't identify this high above, the castle could probably feed its own and withstand a siege if such a thing happened. There were also various other buildings within the shelter of the curtain walls that he couldn't quite identify at the moment. It was all rather quaint and orderly, moreso than it would have been in medieval Europe, but what was most impressive was the keep. If 'keep' was even the proper term for it. Most castles had a tall circular or square keep, this was instead something that looked like one of the palaces the mad king of Bavaria would build. Ludwig II, wasn't it? The walls were of white stone, the roofs of some sort of dark blue marble-like material. Vaguely gothic in architecture, it had high turrets, steep roofs, and narrow windows. It was breathtaking. 

Pegasumon dipped a wing and began spiraling downwards, veering towards the courtyard just outside the keep. Ken remained silent through the uneventful landing process, hopefully Takeru wasn't expecting any coherent response right now. The equine digimon landed gracefully with little more than a clap of hooves signaling that he had indeed touched the ground. 

Takeru slipped gracefully from Pegasumon's back and turned to help Ken down. Still baffled by it all, Ken was silent as he took Takeru's hand and dismounted. He glanced around in an attempt to absorb it all. A few unimon and shima unimon passed by with nods of acknowledgement towards Takeru. A group of yuki agumon and other rookies clustered in groups and talked among themselves. There was something odd though, something he couldn't quite put a finger on yet it nagged at the back of his mind. What was it, though? 

Before he could go further along this train of thought, Takeru pulled him along to the main palace entrance. The large palace doors swung open before them, revealing the interior in all its splendor. Still speechless, Ken simply allowed Takeru to guide him up several flights of stairs and point to various nearby rooms as he explained what they were. Constantly on his mind was the question of how this place came into being and how long Takeru had been working on it. 

It was only when they reached a hallway leading to a single door that Takeru paused and turned to grin cheerfully at Ken. "So, what do you think?" 

"Impressive," Ken began. It was true at least, if not an incredibly creative statement. It seemed to be enough for Takeru for the moment, and the other boy took his hand again to lead him to the room at the end of the hall. 

The door opened up to an apartment that was larger by far than those normally found in Japan. There was a main common room that doubled as a study and what looked to be a door leading to a bathroom to the right. To the left was another door left ajar to reveal the bedroom. It was there that Takeru led him. 

Ken sat on the large, Western-style bed covered with a sky-blue blanket as he noted the white pine and pale gold furnishings. The place had a sunny air about it that was enhanced by the presence of large windows draped with pale, gauzy blue curtains. Takeru kicked off his shoes before sitting cross-legged next to him. 

"What's wrong, Ken?" 

Shifting his glance from an elegant candelabra set on the dresser's top, Ken sighed as his eyes settled on his boyfriend's worried face. "I probably shouldn't ask such a thing, but how did all this come into being? It couldn't have materialized overnight." 

"Oh, is that all?" Takeru smiled pleasantly. "Everyone who lives here has been working on the castle for several months now. We're not done yet, but we're close." 

It had been a group effort, then. But there was that other question. "Why? There's no need for a castle like this in the Digital World," Ken inquired. It was worth a shot. 

Takeru's voice then took on an air of confidence, as if he had been expecting that question. "It's a precautionary measure, just in case someone like Devimon rises up again. The digimon who live here feel safer than they ever have and it's because of this castle that they can be so certain that they'll have a secure future." 

A sigh of relief escaped Ken's lips. Why had he been so worried? What had he been worried about in the first place? This was Takeru, after all. Of course he would do what he felt was right. And here in the Digital World, it was easier to render such things as the ornate decorations that graced the castle than it would be on Earth. "Is it like this throughout the castle?" 

"More or less. Those who have been here since the beginning have better accommodations than those who've just joined, but I've heard no complaints so far." 

"Ah." Ken leaned back to lay across the mattress, which was much more comfortable than his own bed. He could come to enjoy being here. A smirk tugged at his lips as Takeru laid beside him. "So, you want me to spend summer break with you here?" 

Grinning back at that, Takeru reached over to brush his fingers along Ken's cheek in a light caress. "It would be nice, wouldn't it? That is, if you wouldn't prefer to be somewhere else..." 

"No, this is perfect," Ken murmured as he gazed up at the canopy that stretched over the bed. It had pale blue privacy curtains cascading from it that were pulled back and tied with tasseled silk ropes. Simple thoughts drifted through his mind, but none were substantial enough to focus on for long. But it _was_ nice of Takeru to bring him here. 

Takeru was perfectly happy. Ken liked the castle he had worked so hard on after all. All those hours he spent working with countless digimon to set this place up were finally worth it. Smiling, he shifted close enough to plant a small kiss on Ken's forehead. "Glad you like it." 

Yes, everything was perfect. 

.~*~. 

"Dammit, where the hell is he?!" 

Iori didn't bother looking up from his textbook. After all, outbursts from Miyako were perfectly normal. He shrugged nonchalantly as the girl whipped around to face him and allowed a moment to pass before responding in his usual quietly calm voice. "I haven't heard from him since yesterday." 

With a grunt of disgust, Miyako returned her attention to the world outside her bedroom window. When the moments passed with nothing else from his friend, Iori glanced up at her in consternation. Worry left its mark in the form of a slight creasing between her brows and the small frown tugging at the corners of her lips. Iori scowled slightly at this. While he was more accepting of Miyako's romantic relationship than he was of Takeru's, it just wasn't like the boy to leave Miyako waiting like this. It was starting to annoy him. He knew Miyako's boyfriend quite well, had for awhile now. This just didn't happen with him. Sporting a frown that now mirrored Miyako's, Iori closed his textbook and rose from his seat on the floor. 

"Have you called him yet?" 

"Yeah, got in touch with his sister," Miyako began, somewhat grateful that Iori had distracted her from the monotony outside her window for the moment. "She doesn't have a clue where he is either." 

The boy looked thoughtfully at Upamon and Poromon, who had been silent since Miyako's outburst. Poromon echoed Miyako's mood but Upamon was fairly unconcerned and casual, which was usual for him. He was at least doing his best to calm Poromon down. A thought soon presented itself to Iori as a possible solution. "We could try tracking down his digivice." 

Miyako shook her head. "If it's the same people that kidnapped Takeru, they'd drop off the digivice and that would make a search pointless." 

"It doesn't hurt to try, Miyako," Iori offered soothingly. "Where did he say he was going last?" 

"The Digital World. He was responding to a distress e-mail that showed up on his D-terminal, and-" Miyako's face lit up as she darted up from her seat on the bed. "He might still be there!" 

Her anxiety forgotten, Miyako dug up her D-3 from her dresser and spun to face Iori once she had it in her hands. "I'm going to look for him. Wanna come along?" 

Iori nodded in silent agreement. It wasn't long before Miyako had her computer booted up and running. It took even less time for Miyako to open up a digital gate and send them through. And, within the hour, Aquilamon soared high above a digital landscape with two humans and an Armadimon on his back. The younger of the two humans was keeping an eye on the display in his D-3's screen. Not very long ago, Ken and Koushiro had worked together on an expansion plug-in that allowed a greater search range for the tracking system and Iori was now using it to his advantage. However, it had yet to pick up a ping. 

There was no real direction to Aquilamon's flight, for they did not know which direction to go. Thus, the great eagle flew in a spiral that expanded ever outwards in hopes that Iori would be able to pick up the signal they were looking for. Time passed slower and slower with each kilometer they covered. 

It wasn't until they reached a beach that the ping appeared on Iori's screen. A hint of excitement seeped into the boy's face as he looked up at the girl sitting behind him. The position was to allow him to keep his hands free to work with the digivice while her arms acted as a brace to keep him from falling should a sudden gust of wind interfere with Aquilamon's flight. He wondered if Miyako just needed something to have her arms around to comfort herself. "He seems to be stationary at south by southwest, about three kilometers from here." 

He hadn't been in a position where he could easily see his friend's face, but it wasn't hard for him to imagine the smile of relief. Mildly relieved himself, Iori returned his eyes to the screen of his D-3 and watched as they drew closer. 

The ping led them to a relatively isolated marshy grassland near a river's delta. Tall grasses obscured the view of the ground itself, but the D-3's ping acted as a beacon to guide them. Aquilamon flew as low as possible, for he did not fancy landing in water and sticky mud unless there were no other options. 

Slumped in the murky shallows with only a log holding his head above water was Miyako's boyfriend of the past two months. His breathing was short and hissed with every intake of air, and blood mixed with silt in the water around him. He cracked open a single brown eye when he heard Aquilamon settle beside him and grinned weakly at them. "About damn time you got here, Miyako." 

Miyako scrambled from her mount and was soon at her boyfriend's side. Iori followed soon after and helped her bring the teenaged boy to his feet. A sharp gasp of pain escaped his lips and the liquid gurgle in his throat alerted them to the severity of the damage. As the older boy spat out blood from his lungs, Iori frowned and suggested they find a monitor as close to the region as possible, he was sure that more than one rib had penetrated the older boy's lungs and they needed to get him to a hospital immediately. The way the boy limped indicated that his left leg was broken, and the left arm was probably in the same condition considering how Miyako's boyfriend winced when she slung it over her shoulder to offer support. 

"Who did this to you, Daisuke?" 

Daisuke glanced up from the water, blinking a few times to clear an eye of the blood that leaked into it from a gash on his brow. Speech was hard for him, but he ignored the pain that came with each breath and continued. "I dunno. I was just standing here to answer a distress call, then this psycho unimon came up and trampled us." 

Iori's eyes scanned the area for a monitor, disturbed that an unimon had attacked Daisuke. He'd expect this from, say, a virus, but what would make an unimon attack like that? It was completely illogical. Unless... "Did the unimon look like he was being controlled by anything? An evil ring, maybe?" 

The older boy simply shook his head. "Nothing I could see. Is V-mon okay?" 

"Fine, Dais'ke," the battered little blue blob known as Chicomon squeaked from Armadimon's back. He had been found by Iori's partner as the other humans were busy with Daisuke. His voice soon took on a whine. "Can we go home now?" 

"After we take Daisuke to a hospital," Miyako stated sternly. Her features soon softened as she returned her gaze to Daisuke. "You'll be okay there without me, won't you?" 

A mock-indignant tone seeped into Daisuke's voice at that. "What, you mean they won't let me have a nurse of my choice? That sucks!" 

Iori rolls his eyes as conversation between the two older kids got a bit more personal than he liked and dragged them to a monitor that was several meters away. They got that way a lot since they started dating out of curiosity. Sighing, the youngest child looked away as Miyako started lavishing even more attention on Daisuke. Well, at least Daisuke would live. 

.~*~. 

_ The one thing that burned itself into Libra's mind was the desolation she saw. Millenniumon's attack had literally razed the pagumon village to the ground. This was, in and of itself, very unusual. The pagumon were fickle allies at best and would have bowed down to Millenniumon's whim if he were to so much as breathe on them, so why did he attack? _

She wandered the ruins of a once prosperous village with her partner close behind. They were supposed to be meeting another human soon, one codenamed by Gennai as Anode. That made sense, she supposed, since Kageko's codename was Cathode. However, it wouldn't hurt to do a bit of investigation first. So here they were, trying to find any survivors amidst the charred remains. 

A subtle motion at the corner of Libra's eye drew her attention to a small house that was very much in danger of fully collapsing on top of whatever inhabitants there were within. Curious, she left her partner's side to take a look. 

Cringing within the darkness were two young pagumon. One was slightly bigger and situated himself in front of what she assumed was his brother. The larger pagumon soon sported an indignant glare. "Go away and leave us alone," he hissed. 

"I'm not going to hurt you," Libra offered reassuringly. "What happened?" 

There was a moment of silence before the smaller one spoke up. "We had a pact with Millenniumon. We knew that he rewards loyalty and destroys anyone who betrayed him, so we thought we'd be okay. But, but-" 

"But one of our own citizens was leaking information to Gennai's group and Millenniumon found out," the larger finished for his brother. "That's what happened. Now go away! If Millenniumon finds out, he'll kill us too!" 

The black tailmon shook her head at this. Wouldn't they want revenge at the least? "It does no good to hide like this. Why not join us? My Tamer and I are are working with others to defeat Millenniumon." 

The larger pagumon looked like he was going to protest before a spark of maliciousness glinted in the eyes of his brother. He nipped at the larger's ear to get his attention and they drew away for the moment. Libra's ears perked to catch bits and pieces of the discussion. 

"This could benefit us, big brother," the smaller whispered. "And we can have our revenge at the same time." 

The larger pagumon snorted. "I don't trust anyone who just comes waltzing up and asks us to join a cause that's doomed to failure." 

"Who said we needed to trust them? A human Tamer would help us evolve, right? We don't even need to bond to them or whatever it is that those silly 'partnered' digimon do. Tamers are great that way and we can leave whenever we feel like it." 

"Fine. But if we get in trouble it's gonna be **your** fault, little brother." 

A trace of pride wove into the younger's voice. "Of course, it's always my fault." 

The pagumon bounced back to her and practically oozed friendliness that she had little doubt was mostly faked. "We'll join," they said at once. 

Later, once "Anode" (Akiyama Ryo, she had come to learn) had met with them, they had moved far from the village ruins and were clustered together around an electric lamp in place of a campfire. Kageko and Ryo were talking about what they had gone through so far and compared notes on digimon training, nothing of which interested Libra in the least. Finally discussion came down to nicknames. Ryo hadn't bothered nicknaming the digimon he picked up over time, but Kageko preferred it and said it gave them a greater sense of individuality. Curious, the two pagumon asked what Kageko would name them. 

The larger was thus named Loki and he liked it so much that he didn't protest. The smaller however was most displeased with Kaulu, Anansi, Cirapé, Kokopelli, and pretty much any trickster deity name Kageko could recall. Kageko was almost ready to give up until Ryo spoke up for the first time during the naming. "What about Savali? He's a Samoan divine messenger and trickster, if I remember correctly." The newly named pagumon agreed, and Savali stuck. 

The two pagumon became like little brothers to her, even after they had evolved to a gazimon and tsukaimon respectively. Then there was the last great battle with Millenniumon. Ken's digimon had jogressed with Ryo's while Loki assumed his devidramon form and Savali his tekkamon form. The strategy was fairly simple: Ken and Ryo's party would head the offensive while Kageko's party would strike from behind. It was supposed to have been flawless. They had fought Millenniumon once before, they were supposed to know what to expect. It was supposed to be easy. 

She hadn't been able to see Ken's party, but when Millenniumon struck with two Time Unlimited attacks, twin sprays of data bits swirled in the wind. Ken's Holy Angemon and Angewomon had been killed right before the poor boy's eyes. Kageko ordered her party to attack, and they went to avenge their fallen comrades. And then she saw it, it burned into her memory as the destruction of the pagumon village had so long ago. 

Loki had struck at Millenniumon with his Crimson Nail attack and raked his claws deep into Millenniumon's flesh. The synthetic digimon howled in pain and bucked the devidramon from his back. Before Loki could gather himself, Millenniumon gave a cruel grin and literally ripped his head from his shoulders. 

The scene replayed itself. Again. Again and again, looping constantly to torment her. Loki was like a little brother to her, they had become attached over time. Over and over again. 

Libra woke up screaming in a castle that she had considered somewhat safe, thankful for the fact that the tower she was napping in had thick stone walls and tapestries that muffled sounds. As the scream died down, she shivered and curled back under a quilt. It was suddenly very cold. 

Somewhere, in another world, a tsukaimon echoed her nightmare. 

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Ajora: Yes, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Things are only going to go downhill from here. 


	6. Judgment

Knight of Swords  
Chapter 6: Judgment  
-by Ajora Fravashi

*Disclaimer: Alas, I do not own Digimon. That belongs to Bandai and Toei. 

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It was all coming back in slow and miniscule increments. While it was true that his memories were far from complete, Ken had hopes that they would all return in time. He had his entire life ahead of him, after all, and there was no rush. 

Ken mulled over the most recent memories as he laid besides Takeru on the bed they shared in the castle. Takeru hadn't tried anything that he knew would make him uncomfortable, much to his relief. There had been some heavy petting, but nothing Takeru did triggered an adverse reaction. Not yet anyway, for Takeru had stopped before things started getting too sexual. He was almost disappointed until he realized that Takeru stopped out of consideration for him. Then the specter of the past that had almost been forgotten in the heat of the moment loomed over him once again. Would he ever get over it? 

Why did his life have to be so painful? It had been since he was a child. It wasn't fair. He could remember the look in Osamu's eyes once, when they returned home after a get-together with Ryo and Kageko. Osamu had maintained his emotionless composure when Kageko said that she and Ryo were going out, but when Osamu dragged him back home, he fought to keep from protesting the painful grip Osamu had on his hand. There had been silent rage in his brother's eyes that, once they were back home, dissolved into despair. "Life isn't fair," Osamu had whispered before locking him out of the room for over an hour. Ken didn't realize then why his brother did that, but now... 

"Life isn't fair," he remembered Kageko stating as she extended her palm to him. He remembered looking down at the snail he had rescued from her pesticides. It waved its eyestalks at him as if in thanks, and he had quickly covered the cute little slimy thing with his other hand. She had noticed though, and told him to hand it over. "Snails are pests, Ken. They must be eliminated before they destroy the garden." He remembered the stern look on her face and sighing forlornly as he opened his hands to gaze down at the snail that had retreated to its shell. It drew out, eyestalks quivering tentatively, just before Kageko plucked it by its shell and dropped the thing to the ground. Before he could react, the creature was crushed under her heel. It left shards of shell amidst a puddle of formless wet slime. Just a pest, he reminded himself. Nothing more. 

Ken's eyes fluttered open in surprise as he heard a tiny beep from his and Takeru's D-terminals. Who would be sending them something at this hour? 

Careful not to inadvertently awaken his boyfriend by squirming around too much, Ken stretched a hand towards the nightstand and plucked his D-terminal from it. He thumbed open the device and waited for mail to load as he settled back into bed. Takeru shifted in his sleep, cuddled closer to Ken, and resumed snoring. A smile quirked at Ken's lips at that. Takeru wasn't loud, it could best be compared to the purring of a kitten in fact, but he did snore. Personally Ken found it very cute, and he ran the fingers of a free hand through Takeru's hair before glancing back at the screen of his D-terminal. 

It was an e-mail from Miyako, addressed to them both. The time-stamp indicated that it had been sent several hours ago. But if that were so, why had it taken so long for his D-terminal to finally receive it? Frowning slightly at that puzzle, Ken opened up the e-mail. 

There is something to be said for the effects of reading text as opposed to conversing with someone in person. The e-mail looked almost clinical and detached, yet it didn't take much for Ken to imagine the stress Miyako must have been under when she typed this up. A mad unimon had trampled Daisuke and V-mon, leaving them both severely injured. Daisuke was in the hospital now and the doctors were still operating on him when the e-mail was sent. Iori had been with Miyako when she found Daisuke, and the others came to wait with them when word got out. She knew both Ken and Takeru were having a little private time together, but could they perhaps find some time to visit Daisuke in the next few days? 

Ken leaned back against the headboard, trying to shake off the shock that was beginning to settle in. Daisuke? Injured? What had happened to trigger the attack? Oh gods. Daisuke was one of his best friends. He should have known sooner. Ken was tempted to take off to the hospital himself to make sure Daisuke was going to be okay. He had even started rising from the bed before he felt Takeru's hand wrap around his wrist. 

"Problem, Ken," Takeru asked, looking up at him with drowsy eyes. 

Sighing, Ken closed his eyes to steel himself. The thought of the ever-lively Daisuke being confined to a hospital bed and recovering from serious injuries was far too unnatural for him. He reiterated Miyako's message as steadily as he could. When he finished, he opened his eyes and was faintly disturbed by the look of mild apathy on Takeru's face. 

He had known that there had been some amount of rivalry between the two in the past, but had been told that it had diminished over time and he saw no reason to think otherwise. But this kind of apathy wasn't like Takeru, not when it concerned a fellow team-mate. Maybe it was just because Takeru was half-asleep and didn't fully understand the implications quite yet. "Takeru, Daisuke is our friend and I really think we should go visit him as soon as possible." 

"I know that," Takeru began dourly, startling Ken with the sudden edge in his voice. "But there's nothing we can do about it now and visitors won't be allowed anyway until midmorning." 

"But-" 

"Life isn't fair," the blond murmured as he let go of Ken's wrist and settled back into bed. The edge left his voice as he watched the mark of concern on his Ken's face, quickly taking on a soothing quality. "Please come back to bed. You're going to worry yourself sick if you decide to fret over this when there's nothing we can do but let his doctors do their job. This is Daisuke. He'll be fine." 

Shaking his head, Ken simply settled back into bed and curled up next to his boyfriend. Takeru was right, there really wasn't anything that anyone could do right now save for those whose duty it was to heal. Tomorrow then. Tomorrow he would visit Daisuke. Hopefully. 

.~*~. 

_ "Now Wormmon, I know you mean a lot to Ken. That's why I want you to stay out of trouble as much as possible. Why don't you and Patamon stick together while you're here?"_

Wormmon's antennae wilted as he recalled the words Takeru had said when he and Nahualmon had been dropped off by Hikari at a nearby digital gate. He didn't know why it bothered him so much, it just did. The situation helped even less when he recalled how Nahualmon's neck feathers bristled the moment they arrived at the castle. He wanted to ask what it was that disturbed the other digimon, but all he could get out of it were squawks and warbles. From what he could gather, the other digimon could only speak in its champion form and only evolved if there was an absolute need to. However, there was rarely any need for it to evolve to that level. It was very frustrating. 

Conversation within a group of bakumon, sorcerymon, penmon and hanumon halted as Wormmon and Nahualmon passed by in their wandering of the castle grounds. Nahualmon's feathers practically stood on end now in the uncomfortable silence. Wormmon didn't like the way they glared at him and Nahualmon at all, it was as if they were almost murderous in the intensity of their stares. Wormmon hurried along, afraid of what might happen if they confronted the other group. 

A group consisting of nothing but vaccines. 

He froze at that realization. It might not have bothered him, but then he attempted to recall if they had ever encountered another virus in the castle. None. No virals whatsoever. It was sort of creepy now that he thought of it. Was that why his companion hadn't let down its feathers since they got here? 

Shivering, Wormmon turned and retraced his tracks back to Takeru's apartment. He had started wandering when the boys were asleep, more out of curiosity than anything else, and Nahualmon followed him for some reason he couldn't guess. Now he knew. The other virus probably thought it was needed or something. 

"Let's go back," Wormmon suggested in a voice that quavered with fear. He _really_ didn't like the way the vaccines were glaring at them. 

Nahualmon, whose puffed-out feathers made it look like an unused feather duster, squawked an agreement. It followed closely behind Wormmon as they backtracked, never once letting its guard down. 

.~*~. 

This lonely bartizan's attic was her living space. The bartizan protruded from the easternmost corner of the keep, overlooking the castle complex and beyond. The view stretched out past the protecting giants' teeth that were the mountain cliffs and over the valleys where an army would have no choice but to approach from. It was a brilliant look-out point. There would be scouts placed in the bartizan proper once the Cleansing began, but for now it was hers and hers alone. No one dared disturb her solitude but the boy she worked for. 

Until the Cleansing was well underway, he wanted her to remain in the shadows, so there she stayed. This solitude was not a new thing to her, and she rather preferred it. Blissful silence. It was only interrupted every now and then when the boy's patamon came in and left food for her. A cute little patamon it was, and increasingly disturbed by what he thought was a ghost in the tower. 

Dawn broke soon enough, but she was only aware of it when she glanced down through a crack in the attic's boards at the stone floor beyond. Libra crept from her nest of soft blankets and quilts to stretch out muscles that had gone stiff from lying in a ball. Her solitary nest was much too comfortable. With a yawn, the Black Tailmon hopped from a small crack in the attic's floor to a shelf, then bounded off that to land gracefully on the bartizan's stone floor. 

A glance out one of the windows awarded her the view of the head of an unimon clan rallying a group of recruits for practice. She remembered him, he was the one that the boy sent to disable a human rival. That unimon's prejudice made him dangerous, but she had studied him carefully. It would be tricky to get him out of the way, but still possible. She would just have to wait until an opportunity presented itself to her. 

Smirking, Libra eyed her prey. As she toyed with her plans, the sound of a human climbing the stairs to her tower caught her attention. She battled the reflexive urge to flee to her attic with the reminder that it was the boy with her partner's spirit. No one else knew she was here. 

Lord Regent Takeru joined her at the window overlooking the unimon's recruits. The boy didn't know of her plot, and wouldn't approve unless she displayed unwavering loyalty to him and only him. But the time would come soon enough. 

"There's someone out there watching us," the boy said. She blinked and looked up at him. "I don't know how I know, but they're out there." 

Libra smothered a wave of unrelenting hope that threatened to wash over her. If he knew the secret Kageko and Ryo shared, then he might truly have her partner's soul after all. He might not remember it all, but that was fine. The less he remembered of Kageko's love for Ryo, the better. 

Her voice was still weak with long years of disuse, but was steadily becoming stronger each time she talked to the boy. "They are the Furekim, digimon trained by my partner and Akiyama that had never gained permanent human partners of their own. Because Kageko is-" Libra hesitated at that, the topic was still highly sensitive for her. "-not here anymore, they are loyal only to Akiyama. Not even the Holy Beasts are aware of their existence. If They are, They have shown no indication of it." 

Takeru gave a thoughtful hum as he stared down at the recruits. He did not want to deal with the Akiyama issue again. That damned Tamer had an annoying habit of sticking his nose into places it didn't belong. "Should we send an agent to alert the Holy Beasts of his interference during the exile?" 

"No, that would call Their attention to us," Libra murmured, herself deep in thought. "It is best if we undermine his position first. If even a few of the Furekim would join us because of your connection to _her_, we may severely cripple any action he can take against us." 

Blinking, Takeru glanced at the black cat. Did she still believe he had a fragment of Kageko's soul? It was rather illogical, but maybe having a few digimon assume this would elevate his own chances of turning Akiyama's group of spies to his side. That begged the question though, _why_ would Akiyama's group be spying on him? Wouldn't the Tamer want a better world too? Did Akiyama somehow know of his plans? And how could he- 

With a delicate cough, the Black Tailmon interrupted his thoughts. "I trust you will begin with the Cleansing soon?" 

"Yes, of course." Takeru gestured towards the chief unimon that had been useful time and again. "He will head the offensive. You... I would like you to root out Akiyama's spies for me. Does that suit you, Libra?" 

An odd twitch began at a corner of the cat's mouth, then stilled. "For now, Lord Regent." 

.~*~. 

Ryo stretched back in a chair that threatened to give way if he leaned any further, calm blue eyes firmly fixed on the ceiling. His computer was in sleep mode, the radio long ago turned off, his mom went off to buy groceries and had taken Savali with her for company. He could almost swear the tsukaimon was bonding to someone who was too old to be a Tamer or Chosen. And his dad, well, was never really around. There had always been business trips and meetings, and sometimes he wondered if that grassroots merchant from Hokkaido that Mom had met was the same person he called Dad. 

It wasn't the first time he doubted his sanity, not when his vision phased out every now and then. When that happened, he saw ghosts of people and things that didn't exist in the here and now. Before Mom had gone off to the store, he saw ghost images overlapping her. One was her in a Red Army uniform, others of her in various outfits and hairstyles. One ethereal image showed her carrying another child, which would have been nice save for the fact that she couldn't have another child. He was her only child for a reason. Then the transparent ghosting effect bled over to the rest of the house. Savali staying, Savali leaving with her only after needling Ryo a bit, which he hadn't done in the more tangible memory. Savali not being there at all. Ghosts of furniture set in places they hadn't been before. 

It had happened before, but for the life of him he couldn't remember exactly when. He raked his mind as he stared up at the ceiling, but could recall nothing. Why? 

A small beep interrupted his thoughts. Blinking at that, he shifted his glance to his D-terminal _(not really mine)_ and got up to pluck it from his bookshelf. A message had been sent from Ken, obvious since no one else really bothered with him. He had never been a member of any of the Chosen Child teams despite his wish that they'd at least acknowledge him. No, it had always been the Gennai Order, and that never really gave him the sense of belonging he wanted. Secrecy, emotional detachment and espionage had always been the forces at work within the Order, it was required for the kind of work they did. Shaking his head at that, he thumbed open the D-terminal to read Ken's message. 

Daisuke had been trampled by an unimon and was now in the hospital according to Ken, who had been sent an e-mail from Miyako. Ryo didn't see why it should concern him, but Ken was his friend and he was supposed to be there for the boy. Paying attention when Ken needed it was expected of him, so he read on. Takeru was acting strange of late, Ken noted, and disappeared from his side for long intervals. Wormmon and Nahualmon were becoming increasingly uneasy in the "retreat", and Patamon quite literally knew nothing of what was going on. More to the point, when Ken tried to go anywhere without Takeru, he was blocked at every turn by numerous vaccine-type digimon and gently pressed to go back to the apartment. It was quite frustrating, but he couldn't do anything and was thus seeking the company of an old friend through electronic mail. 

Frowning, Ryo set the D-terminal back on his desk and contemplated what Ken had just revealed. He hadn't a tangible clue just what Takeru had been up to these past few months and therefore had his group simply poke around for the most part. They had been unable to gather much of anything, but they were watching nonetheless. Waiting and watching with an uneasiness that was echoed by all within the Furekim, from the smallest baby to the largest Perfect. But the unusually large concentration of vaccine-type digimon in Takeru's castle was starting to worry even him. 

He dug around a drawer full of electronic parts before finding a USB cable to hook the D-terminal up to his laptop. With the two devices connected, he opened up the laptop and began typing up a reply once the system went out of hibernation. While he could have just done so on the D-terminal, he wanted to check on some reports from the Furekim too. Just to keep an eye out. Now he was downright suspicious, what other reason would Takeru be building his castle and amass an army of nothing but vaccines and datas but for a war? He didn't understand why, but he understood the simple truth that he had been trained as a soldier and thus was driven to fight against injustice for higher powers, whether he truly wanted to or not. But was what Takeru doing an injustice or should he just wait and see? 

The e-mail was simple, he asked Ken to keep an eye out and tell him if Takeru did anything strange, and maybe have Wormmon do a bit of investigation if it was possible. Information was the greatest weapon, after all. 

While the D-terminal's e-mail program was busy trying to connect to the Digital World, Ryo spent the time porting into the main Gennai computer. Once within the dead man's system, he had a digital projection rendered and sent to the Furekim base. All the while, the e-mail still would not go through. Maybe just a time lag? 

There were other things he had to worry about right now. 

The projection was almost an extension of himself, though clad in the typical robes of the Gennai Order instead the cargo pants and blue shirt he was wearing now. There was also limitations that made using the projection system more problematic than it was worth. Sensory input was severely crippled and only visual/audio was of any decent use, mobility was restricted to a radius of a couple of meters within the exact coordinates the projection had been sent to, and there was always the threat that the connection would be severed by nothing other than electrical interference anyway. But for now, until he could get the programming for his own D-3 recoded and recompiled, this was all he could rely on. 

The home base for the Furekim, located in the ruined part of the machine city, was just as he remembered it. He had projected himself into the cafeteria where he had spent countless hours before just sitting around with the digimon that made up the Furekim and having long, pointless conversations that never really seemed like much compared to the brevity of more important matters. He counted on them, they counted on him. It was a nice, honest relationship. 

A few dokunemon, gizamon, and Youji's first Betamon noticed him first, and cried out to their comrades that their Tamer was back. Soon enough the cafeteria was flooded by the presence of everything from the tiny zurumon babies to the large eyes of a couple of brachimon peering through the windows. Despite his real body being on Earth, he felt a brief surge of fondness. He was back home and hadn't thought he would miss this place as much as he did. 

"Good of you to return, as a projection if nothing else," Lynxmon began, stepping gingerly around the bodies of the other digimon. "Would you like a field report, Ryo?" 

Shortly after Ryo had nodded, Lynxmon began his presentation. Unallied vaccines had drifted to the banner of the Three-Edged Sword, its base in the Segfault mountains. They had heard that a Chosen Child was heading the banner of the Three-Edged Sword, but were not quite sure which. The pegasumon they saw every now and then indicated Takeru. Regardless, this child had made promises that nothing "evil" would ever hurt the digimon under his banner, and had formed an alliance with the head of an unimon clan known for his hatred of virii. Mushmon, who had barely managed to infiltrate under his vaccine Bitmon alternative evolution, heard the rallying speech and had been so spooked that he fled before hearing it all. Unimon was stoking the vaccine/data troops for a war and preaching hatred against those digimon who had the greatest inclination towards turning evil. 

The virii among the Furekim started shifting nervously once Lynxmon reached that part of his presentation, quite uncomfortable with the implications. While it was true that those digimon who presented the greatest threat to the Digital World and had to be struck down by the humans were viral, it didn't mean that they were _all_ inherently evil. Right? 

Lynxmon plowed on, detailing what Mushmon had told him. All evidence pointed towards the beginning of a racial war. They didn't know yet where the first attack would commence, but it would be prudent for them to remain on high alert. 

Ryo took a moment to absorb all this. Why on earth would Takeru, if it really was him, want to commit what would pretty much amount to genocide? He just didn't get it. He was so caught up in pondering the "why" that he didn't hear Lynxmon until the armored digimon addressed him a second time. Something about visuals. 

At his nod, Lynxmon barked out to a couple of gekomon who carried a few stills that a flymon had taken before she was killed by a swarm of airdramon. The first picture was of the castle in the Segfault mountain range: strong, proud, and nigh inaccessible. The second was taken just within the curtain walls and displayed the barracks, large enough to house an army or two. The third displayed the food storage buildings, fat with stock from gardens that would pull the castle through a siege indefinitely. Ryo murmured a curse under his breath at that. So much for the siege approach he wanted to try. And the last was of the banner of the Three-Edged Sword. 

Ryo blinked, he didn't recognize it at first. But then... 

_ "Wow, you got a real crest! Can I see?" _

Kageko grinned proudly and dug out the tag and crest that hung under her shirt. The crest was silver, bearing a silver two-edged sword that had a strange flame-like etching around the blade. Ryo cocked his head curiously at it and pointed out the flames. "What's that?" 

"Understanding is a three-edged sword, Ryo. Your side, their side, and the Truth. The flame is the third edge, Truth." 

The Tamer fought down the bile rising at the back of his throat. Kageko was dead, yet her crest's symbol was being used as an emblem of war... 

_ Her form was paler than usual thanks to the Reload Machine's limited video transmission capability. It had been shortly after he told her about Millenniumon luring him to the mountain just before it exploded and ripped the Digital World in two. "Look, if Millenniumon wants to play games, well fine. We can play games too, only we can play them better because we have the truth on our side. You can't kill the truth." Kageko paused in consideration at her words, then donned a humorless smirk. "Actually, you can kill the truth, but it always comes back to haunt you later."_

Shaking the memories away, Ryo quickly responded to Lynxmon's query. "I'm fine. Please keep an eye out for now and let me know immediately when the troops start moving. I've got to go before the connection gets cut off. Take care, everyone!" 

The digimon that made up the Furekim waved farewell to him before the connection began sputtering and the video/audio gave out completely. These projections never lasted long. 

Sighing, Ryo leaned back in his chair again, turning over the new information in his mind. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed when his mother and the tsukaimon returned. The two ended their banter long enough for Mom to put the groceries away and Savali to drift over to annoy him. 

Savali glanced at the e-mail that was still trying to connect. He was familiar enough with the process, having watched Ryo do this several times, and was curious as to why it was taking so long. He wasn't above asking about it either. 

Ryo shrugged at Savali's question. "I think there's a time-set block or something to prevent Ken from getting relevant information until it's too late to act. Damned shame, I was hoping that he would help me dig up information on Takeru's actions. We need someone like him in the castle." 

Blinking, Savali regarded Ryo for a few seconds with a curious expression the Tamer couldn't quite read. Then the tsukaimon howled in laughter. "The puppet becomes the puppeteer! This is brilliant!" 

"Huh?" Ryo stared blankly at the tsukaimon. What on earth could Savali be implying? 

"Puppet turned puppeteer! The marionette loses his strings only to make another marionette dance." Savali gasped, then resumed laughing at him. 

Ryo's eyes narrowed. "I am _not_ using Ken." 

"Yes you are! Yes you are!" The tsukaimon grinned maniacally. "You're just in denial. So, how does it feel to be manipulated by all the higher-ups in the Digital World, then gain the opportunity to use someone in turn?" 

Anger rose within the Tamer and only a tentative handle on his temper kept him from reaching out to smack the tsukaimon. With a growl, he rose from his chair to pick up his travel bag and stalked up to the front door. "Mom, I'm going to Odaiba to check on Daisuke for Ken and ask him about an attack. Alone." 

Before either Akiyama Kumi or Savali could respond, the door was slammed shut and Ryo on his way to Tokyo. 

.~*~. 

All was silent in the little bubble of solitude that was a grey Subaru. Yoshinaka Reiko watched traffic go by with bored disinterest. All seemed to be going well with the Takaishi boy, but there was something else that she wanted and hoped that the syndicate would be willing to allow her to claim. She wanted her son back. 

Oh, she knew Oshiro was dead, but everything about the Akiyama boy reminded her of him. Oshiro's mannerisms, appearance and physique were reflected in Akiyama Ryo. There were differences, certainly, but she would accept them. The problem was in getting the younger boy to believe that he _was_ Oshiro. But she read things, psychology books that would prove immensely helpful. However, she needed the boy in her presence to do anything. 

Her cellphone rang then, interrupting the silence with a short, shrill rhythm. She flipped it open to listen to whatever the syndicate would say. 

"Mrs. Yoshinaka, we do not approve of this plan, but will grant the materials and private space necessary for you to carry it out. Do not let this distract from your main purpose. You will find directions to the warehouse in your e-mail and the materials will be available there." With that, her employer's secretary closed the connection. 

With a rare smile on her gaunt face, the woman opened her laptop to see if anyone under the name of Akiyama Ryo was travelling lately. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Ajora: Well, that took longer than I expected. Sorry. Four or five cards left. 


	7. The Wheel Reverse

Knight of Swords   
Chapter 7: The Wheel (Reverse)   
-by Ajora Fravashi 

Disclaimer: Toei and Bandai own my wallet, but I don't own Digimon. Not a fair trade, if you ask me. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Consider the Digital World: a dimension of spirits finally given form by the ushering of the digital age. Born of the activation of the Atanasoff-Berry Computer and the ENIAC in the 1940's, this new dimension became populated by the spirits that inhabited planes of existence previously inaccessible by humanity. Human cultures have many names for them, and many names for those spirits that aligned themselves with humans. The Aztecs called them nahual, the Persians called them fravashis, some of those who worshipped Yahweh mistakenly called them guardian angels or Watchers, and others still called them fairies. But recently they recreated themselves as what are now called digimon and were separated into types: vaccines, datas, virals. Few remembered their collective past before the occupation of the new Digital World due to constant reformatting, but some things always remained the same. Virals were the most passionate, driven not for high ideals but for their own welfare. They were also the most likely to turn feral should the human they aligned themselves to fall into danger. While not inherently evil, they were the type most likely to turn this way. Data-types tended to be mellower than virii and vaccines, often ending up as mediators between the two and offering balance. Vaccines had a tendency towards higher ideals and the good of the many over the welfare of one. There were exceptions among all types of course, and there were those who could evolve to different data types, but the Lord Regent and his followers cared more for cutting a diseased flower as a bud than waiting for it to bloom. 

And so it began. On the first night, a nearby pagumon village was easily crushed and its denizens deleted. The nearest Village of Beginnings was seized soon afterwards and the data from the deleted pagumon population was rejected. With no place to go, the data remained in limbo. Then came a colony of gazimon. They had been brave, fighting beyond the limits of their abilities and with all the cunning they could manage, but the clan of unimon and shima unimon were more powerful and, after a few hours, the colony fell. As that particular battle raged, another took place on a nondescript beach town populated by families of gizamon, betamon, gekomon, and otamamon. It too fell, defenseless against the airdramon/snimon squadrons that dropped loads of explosives and shrapnel. Their attempts to flee to the sea had been blocked by a group of rukamon and ebidramon, who soon slaughtered them. Few were those of the Three-Edged Sword that questioned their duty. After all, it was for the greater good. Those who might not have done as they were requested were swayed by the honeyed words of the Lord Regent. None challenged the authority of one who spoke with the command inflections used only by those of the Gennai Order. 

However, as they were wont to, rumors of the Cleansing spread beyond the battlefields. They rode the winds on wings of desperation and fear. And, of course, sooner or later information has a way of getting around. 

.~*~. 

"Hi! You've reached Mimi Tachikawa's place! Sorry I'm not in right now, but leave me a message and I'll get right back to you! Sankyuu!" 

Jou blinked blankly as Mimi's answering machine gave a slight ping and awaited his message. Her English was very good now, but why had she felt the need to append "thank you" in a far heavier Japanese accent? Shrugging to himself, Jou began. "Good morning, Mimi. There's something going on right now in the Digital World and I might as well be the one to inform you. Please call back as soon as-" 

He was cut off as the answering machine stopped recording and someone picked up the phone. 

"Jou? Hi! It's been so long since you've called!" Mimi's voice, so happily energetic in its innocence towards the current situation, was a welcoming balm on Jou's nerves. For the moment at least. "So, what's up? How are you? And the others?" 

Sighing, Jou took off his glasses to rub briefly at the grooves the nosepieces were pressing into the sides of his nose. He was certainly not going to like this. Maybe it would be a good idea to go gently into the matter. "I'm a stressed out bundle of nerves. As usual. How about you? Any boyfriends yet?" 

Mimi gave a huff that would have sounded offended but for the subtle teasing note in her voice. "What, you don't count?" She grinned at the stammering that followed soon afterwards. Jou was such fun to tease. 

With a cough, he shoved his glasses back on and responded. "I think Koushiro would argue with you about that." 

"Eheh. It was fun though, wasn't it? Getting people to think we were together for a while?" 

"Yeah," Jou began. It had been when he was about sixteen that Mimi had started covering for him and Koushiro when his father was starting to ask too many uncomfortable questions. Her willingness and ability to play along with the boyfriend/girlfriend act was a godsend. "Can you imagine how much we would have annoyed each other if it had been real?" 

Giggling lightly, Mimi responded. "Yeah. No offense, but you two aren't really the type I look for, romance-wise. We make great friends though, right?" 

A genuinely warm smile quirked at Jou's lips. "Right. Thanks for going out on a limb for us." 

"I'd do it again if you two needed me to. Anything for my friends. But alas, boyfriends aren't in my future." Jou could just imagine the carefree grin on her face at that. "Oh, Michael's been trying, but I think fate was trying to tell me something when the one boy I've ever asked out on a date got blown up soon afterwards." 

On the other side of the room, Koushiro perked up from the screen of his computer. The phone call had been put on speakers for his benefit, but it hadn't caught his attention from his programming until now. Mimi remembered the D-1 Tournament? How curious. He'd have to ask her how much she did recall later, once more urgent issues were set on the metaphorical table. 

Jou sighed as Koushiro began gesturing at him to get to the point. Great. "Anyway, Mimi, I'm not sure if you heard, but there have been some developments of late that you should know about-" 

"-In the Digital World," Mimi cut in as her pseudo-frivolous airs were dropped in favor of a far more serious tone of voice. "That was what you were calling me about. So what's up?" 

"Well, we first noticed something was wrong when Daisuke was retrieved from the Digital World and put in the hospital. He had been trampled by a unimon, of all things." 

Almost half a world away, Mimi frowned and sat cross-legged on her bed. Something told her that she was not going to like this. The news started off bad and it was likely to end worse. That was just the way things were. "Any idea why?" 

"None yet. However, Miyako and Iori said that Ken and Takeru have gone missing. They're completely incommunicado and no one has been able to find them yet." Jou cleared his throat then. What was to follow would be unpleasant, to say the least. "Not to go pointing fingers, but Taichi thinks we should do a bit of investigating on that matter." 

A slight frown crossed Mimi's pretty features at the unvoiced implication. She had been one of the first to accept Ken without question out of her willingness to see the good in all things. He wouldn't revert to his old self, right? "You think Ichijouji is involved in this, I assume." 

"We don't know that yet. We don't know much of anything yet," Jou countered. He paused for a moment to glance at Koushiro in hopes that the other might have a clue. Koushiro simply shrugged and urged him to continue. "What we do know is this: Several villages have been destroyed over the past two days by an organized force-" 

Mimi let out a small gasp. "Oh no! Jou, that's awful! Do you know who's responsible?" 

"Not yet. All we're getting as far as information is concerned is that whoever is giving the orders carries the banner of a three-edged sword. I don't suppose that gives you any ideas, does it?" Jou ended that on a hopeful note. Mimi knew some the Chosen Children from North America pretty well, she might have heard something that Koushiro or Wallace had not. Maybe she might have heard of or encountered a child with a similar crest or digimental. 

"A three-edged sword? That's bizarre." There was a short pause then as Mimi raked her mind for something, anything that would offer a clue. Unfortunately, it was not to be. "Sorry, wish I could help." 

"Don't worry about it. We'll let you know when we find out more," Jou offered reassuringly. He was ready to end the conversation as well until Koushiro rose from the desk and offered a piece of paper to him. Curious, Jou glanced over it briefly before continuing. "Actually, Koushiro requests that you ask the American kids to keep an eye out and protect what you can as far as your jurisdiction will allow. It seems that the only victims so far have been concentrations of viral populations and anyone trying to protect them." 

"It can't be Ichijouji then," Mimi stated with absolute conviction. "Ichijouji's digimon partner is a virus. Why would he have an army attack only virii? It wouldn't make sense. It has to be someone else." 

Koushiro nodded with just the tiniest hint of pride in his dark eyes at the idea of someone else agreeing with his theories. Someone else that didn't answer to "Jou", of course. As if sensing that thought, Jou gave him a brief smile and continued. 

"Yes, we've thought of that. Regardless, it would help immensely if we could find the two. Maybe they might know something." 

"I'll start organizing things with Michael after class and see what we can manage." Mimi's voice once again took on a positive tone. "Which I should be going to soon." 

Jou blinked in surprise. So soon? Phone conversations with Mimi tended to stretch on for hours. Not only that, the cheerfulness in her voice sounded somewhat forced. He briefly wondered why, but sooner or later Mimi would tell them anyway, so he did not press on the matter. After all, it would have been rude. "Right. Koushiro will e-mail you the details in a bit. Later, Mimi." 

"Oh, give Koushiro a kiss for me! Bye now!" With a short giggle, Mimi hung up. 

Silently Jou turned off the phone speaker and hung up as well. He'd have to ask about Mimi's behavior later. This was odd even for her. He then looked to see Koushiro eyeing him expectantly with a slight, mischievous smirk. 

"So, about that kiss?" 

.~*~. 

The monitor room was as cool and dark as always. Oh, there was the occasional puff of hot air as one of the machines cooled itself with a fan if it got too hot and the monitors did provide a modicum of light, but overall it was just dark and cool. Machines worked best in cooler temperatures, after all, and machine-type digimon thought more clearly in such an atmosphere. 

A kokuwamon and kapurimon held a small conversation at one end of the room as they idly watched the monitors, but it was over subjects that did not interest the hagurumon at the moment. He had his own problems to think about. 

Okay, so maybe their Tamer was often hard to get ahold of. It was Ryo, after all, and he had a habit of disappearing at times. But he would never leave when things were so bad, right? Not willingly anyway. Hagurumon was really worried. He had tried talking to Lynxmon, but even _he_ was starting to act funny. It was hardly noticeable really, but Hagurumon liked to consider Lynxmon a friend and friends don't usually brush you aside so coldly when there were more important things to do. Any other time he would have dismissed it, but with the racial war raging as it was, he had reason to be suspicious. It was rather rude to question someone's loyalties, but... 

There was a thin _clink_ as what passed as Hagurumon's forehead met with the metal wall. Conversation between the others stilled as they stared at him in surprise and silence reigned once again. Then, just as one of the vents let out another puff of hot air, one of then began speaking. 

"We can't reach Ryo," the kapurimon muttered, her hushed tones sounding unnaturally loud in the silent chamber. "Should we contact the Chosen Children? If things continue the way they have been, too many lives will be lost and-" 

"And when there's so much fragmented data like the type that the army of the Three-Edged Sword has been generating, it won't just be the virii that are in trouble," the kokuwamon stated. "It would be prudent to remember what happened the last time there was so much fragmentation." 

Hagurumon frowned at that. "It was a dark time then. If the Chosen Children hadn't been there..." 

"Nevertheless, who should we contact? One of them _is_ behind the genocide, after all, and who can we trust," the kokuwamon asked, voice weighed with understated despair. 

There was the silence once again as the three machine digimon thought over the question. None of them knew the Chosen Children personally, none knew quite what to anticipate if they did seek out the Chosen. Then there was Ken, whom Ryo had been unable to get ahold of before their Tamer's disappearance. But if Ryo could not contact Ken, their own chances of doing so would be even less. They could try contacting- 

"Let's try to reach Savali then." 

Hagurumon and the kokuwamon stared at the kapurimon. "But little one," began the kokuwamon with just a touch of condescension in her voice, "he is with our Tamer. If we can't contact Ryo, then what makes you think we can contact Savali?" 

"Because he's so resourceful and clever. Surely we can try contacting Ryo again this time but aim for Savali. He's so cool, I'm sure he'll know that we need his help and will meet us halfway!" 

The two older digimon stared blankly at the younger, unsure as to just how their conversation had derailed into this. Were it possible, she would have been visibly radiating mindless fangirl worship. Hagurumon then glanced back at the kokuwamon. As illogical as the outburst of fangirlism was, the younger might be on to something. 

"It's worth a try," Hagurumon conceded. He gave the kokuwamon a long-suffering glance as she stared at him in surprise. "We don't have very many options." 

Sighing, the kokuwamon turned to the kapurimon. "Please understand that the likelihood of any of us contacting Savali is very slim. We don't want you to be disappointed if we don't." 

"I understand," she replied meekly, despite the big grin that took up most of her face. 

Hagurumon watched silently as the kokuwamon went back to watch the monitors and the small kapurimon began typing up the message with nothing but her tail. Something was nagging at the back of his mind, whether it was a sense of foreboding or something else, he couldn't tell. Nevertheless... 

"Hey, let's not mention this to anyone else. Okay?" 

The kapurimon stared at him in pure incomprehension, but the kokuwamon gave a gesture of acceptance and understanding. He'd have to talk to the kapurimon later. With the situation the way it was, it was best to be cautious. You just couldn't be sure who to trust anymore. 

.~*~. 

There was music playing in the background in a language that was not native to Japan. When no one else was around, this was what she listened to. It helped set her mind in the right frame to translate shipment permits and inventory from Russian to Japanese and back again if necessary. While she had left the Soviet Union for more than just political reasons, at least a couple of her brothers had kept in touch if no one else did and often sent CDs she might be interested in. It was nice to get back to one's roots at times. 

Thus, it was only when the CD stopped that she actually heard the soft pings emitting from Ryo's computer. Mrs. Akiyama glanced suspiciously at it. She didn't trust technology all that much and that was really Ryo's area of interest anyway, so she rarely bothered with his machines. But Ryo had taken off yet again to who knew where, that little purple pest of his was in a deep slumber, and the pinging was starting to get annoying. With a grunt of disgust, she rose from her desk to cross the short distance to Ryo's little work-area near the window. It was a shared study, but Ryo had a habit of carting his laptop to wherever he felt comfortable working at for the moment. Sometimes he'd leave it on the kitchen table, sometimes in his room, but usually here. Why he didn't turn it off when he left, she couldn't guess, but it was on right now and the pinging was starting to get on her nerves. 

A tap on the touchpad deactivated the blackness that acted as a screensaver and brought up the desktop with a little purple dragon icon walking in place at the top left corner of the toolbar. Curious, she moved the cursor to it and clicked on it, only to be greeted with a dialog box requesting a password. She was tempted to leave it alone, but the pinging just wouldn't stop. Maybe Savali might know. 

It was a short walk from the study to Ryo's room, both of which occupied the second floor. The door was open and Savali had made a nice little nest of the pillow. She was sorely tempted not to wake him, but the likelihood of getting the pinging to stop was slim unless she unplugged the computer and even then it would be a few hours before the battery ran out. 

"Savali," Mrs. Akiyama barked out sharply from her place at the room's doorway, "Do you know Ryo's password?" 

The purple and white ball pressed his wings tighter to his body and tried to bury himself into the pillow. With a grunt of disgust, she allowed ten seconds to pass before she repeated her demand. An eyelid cracked open then and the baleful yellow eye glared at her for interrupting his sleep. 

"For which program," the cranky tsukaimon ground out. 

"Something that has a little purple dragon picture. Its beeping is annoying and I have a stack of invoices to translate today." 

Savali grunted and closed his eyes. "'Osamu'. No special characters or kanji, just type it out in hiragana." 

"Thank you," Mrs. Akiyama said as she turned to leave the tsukaimon alone now that she had what she needed. She pointedly ignored the acidic response. 

It wasn't long before she had the password typed in and the mail began downloading. Satisfied that the pinging had stopped for the moment, she returned to her work. This occupied her time for a few minutes, but curiosity nagged at her. She never asked what her son did with his computer, for she was brought up under the strict rule that one did not ask too many questions. In the Soviet Union such curiosity was trouble and could get a long talk with the KGB. And, somehow or another, she had instilled that into her son as well. Up until he was eleven, he rarely expressed curiosity and only did so when _ something_ woke him up. She was told later, much later, that it had been the Digital World that taught him that questioning things wasn't so bad, to an extent. She didn't know everything that happened to him in the Digital World and at times thought it was just as well. Maybe some things were better left unanswered. 

The flood of e-mail had finished downloading and the listing window brought up on the screen. She scanned it absently and was ready to leave it be until her eyes caught on the "URGENT!" title of one of the e-mails. She gave in to the nagging curiosity after a moment and opened the e-mail. To her surprise, it was addressed to Savali and written in some language font set that looked like none of Earth's writing systems. It had the angularity of Saxon runes, but looked completely unrelated. 

Once again Savali was woken, much to his irritation. He was tempted to lash out with acid words at the woman, but the mix of curiosity and urgency on her face stilled his tongue and he went along silently. Besides, it was something to do and life was downright boring lately. He wasn't above flying lazily to aggravate her for waking him. 

The e-mail written in a series of glyphs that had stumped the translator had originated from the Digital World. Savali had never been much for letters, preferring spoken communication and body language to series of codes, but his first Tamer had insisted he learn enough to read. As he read the field report and plea for help from one of many in the Furekim, his scowl deepened. Why the hell did Ryo have to take off when he was needed most? 

With a grunt of disgust, the tsukaimon settled on the desk and folded his wings against his body to ponder what the best action would be. Ryo had stormed off because one of his barbs hit a nerve, and thus left any communication devices behind. It wasn't like Ryo to be gone this long and Savali was worried. Damned if he'd let it show. He looked over the various subject headers, wondering which of them might be from a Chosen Child he could trust. Well, inasmuch as he was capable of considering his own suspicious nature. After so many attempts to get through to Ken and failing, there was no choice but to write the boy off as missing. There were several other messages of lesser importance from the rest of the Furekim, but he could pry into those later. However, that Izumi kid sounded promising... 

Mrs. Akiyama went back to her work. As intrigued as she was by the tsukaimon's sudden silence and his typing something up several minutes later, she had work to do and whatever it was that Savali was doing did not concern her. 

The time passed slowly. Savali, when he was done pecking away at the keyboard, curled back up in his usual nap stance. His thoughts were too hectic for sleep though, and he instead stared absently into space with half-lidded eyes while he sorted through his thoughts. The genocide was getting worse, and several members of the Furekim had expressed concerns. Every digimon had a chance of being reborn, but too much fragmented data of the type the armies of the Three Edged Sword were generating had severe repercussions. Every time there had been too much death, there was too much damaged data floating around. This in turn would usher Apocalymon, and _his_ coming was Ragnarock itself. When Apocalymon appeared it usually meant that a complete wipe and reformatting of the Digital World was at hand. It was unpleasant, but necessary for the Digital World to repair itself. Demon hadn't been stupid enough to pull it off and the Kaiser had never come close. The Dark Masters, having been around for a far shorter time than Demon, had either been unaware of the ancient legends that told of Apocalymon or ignored them. The Chosen had defeated Apocalymon the last time, but would they be able to now without the powers of the Crests? 

The ring of a phone disturbed the prominent silence. Savali glared at it acidly before closing his eyes and attempting to return to his train of thought. Ryo's mother picked it up after the second ring and the tsukaimon resigned himself to listening in on the conversation since he wasn't going to get any sleep now anyway. 

"Hello, is this the Akiyama residence?" 

Mrs. Akiyama blinked in surprise at the youthful light tenor. It had to be someone in their teens at least, but people that young rarely called the house. It might be one of Ryo's friends, but they usually e-mailed him instead. "Yes. Akiyama Kumi speaking." 

"Nice to meet you. My name is Izumi Koushiro, I'm an associate of Ryo's. He's been missing since his train arrived in Odaiba, but I hadn't known he was coming until Savali contacted me a few minutes ago," the boy said. His voice held a fairly remote tone that was not entirely due to physical distance. It wasn't cold, per se, but implied that Izumi was more given to facts and clinical detachment than dramatic emotions. Before the woman could say anything, he continued. "I called because I've been told you were more comfortable with less complicated technology." 

Savali smirked as he stretched out a wing and settled back in, well aware of the cold glare Kumi was shooting at him. It was nice to gain the upper hand. 

"Whatever. What's this about?" 

"Have you noticed any suspicious activity over the past few months that might be relevant to the search? Any unusual phone calls or other indications that someone might have shown interest in Ryo?" 

It took time to think that over. She had never poked her nose into Ryo's business. He was a good kid and did nothing that would warrant such surveillance. But then... "There was a woman who tried to call him constantly a few weeks after he returned from that world, but she stopped after about three months. Ryo said her name was Yoshinaga or something like that. Yoshinara?" 

Koushiro gave a thoughtful hum, and she heard the faint tapping on a keyboard. Shortly after, the boy spoke again. "Might be Yoshinaka. She's one of several parents who had filed a missing persons report for an offspring around 1996. Give me a moment to load the webpage." 

There was a hissing intake of breath shortly afterwards. Kumi cocked an eyebrow at that but said nothing. Whatever the boy found, he would tell her if it was important. 

"Yoshinaka Oshiro was listed as a missing person in August of 1996, but investigations pointed to a run-away case and dismissed it. His hair is lighter and doesn't have the same auburn tint, his jaw is more square-ish, and his eyes a lighter shade of blue, but he looks enough like Ryo to make anyone do a double-take." 

"Did he disappear the same way Ryo did," Kumi asked. She was intrigued now. 

Koushiro's voice was softer now, lost in thought. "Most likely. This _is_ the Gennai we saw in the winter of 2002. Or, at least, an aspect of Gennai..." 

"You're not making sense." 

"Oh, sorry," Koushiro murmured apologetically. "In the Digital World, one can sometimes project a mental image of themselves. Ken, during his time as the Kaiser, was so caught up in the memory of his brother that he had taken on Osamu's voice, speech patterns and hair-style while he was in that world. There's an organization called the Gennai Order, they use similar means for their disguises. The old man visage is a shell program, but I never realized that the younger Gennai was a projection too." 

Mrs. Akiyama, who liked to consider herself a fairly sharp person, was completely and utterly lost. "So what does this have to do with Ryo?" 

"It's a motive. Ryo had been projecting himself as Oshiro while he worked as Gennai. I'm not sure, but it was probably unintentional. Mrs. Yoshinaka probably saw this and had the resources available to stage an abduction." 

"So, do you think you can find my son?" There was nothing quite like getting right to the point. 

Once again there was the faint tapping noise at the other end of the line. "I can try, but I won't guarantee anything. From what I can find so far, she has had trouble finding stable work. That's not too surprising considering the economy over the last few years, but her lack of steady employment is probably due to psychological issues. We're not quite dealing with a very sane person here. I'll let you know if I find more." 

Impressive, the woman thought, though she wondered just how this Izumi boy found what he did. And, since the boy's aptitude at discovering such things was starting to infringe on the paranoia that was second nature to her, it would be best to inquire about it. "How did you find what you did?" 

"The internet," Koushiro started with just a hint of smugness in his voice, "can be a powerful tool for those who know just how to use it. Nevertheless, finding Mrs. Yoshinaka's current location will take a little more work. Do you have a cell phone I can reach you at?" 

"Yes, but I don't use it often." She then rattled off a series of numbers. An idea struck her then. Why not head down to Tokyo and search herself? "Though I should take it with me when I join the hunt." 

There was silence at the other end of the line. Mrs. Akiyama wondered faintly if she had said something offensive, but brushed that thought off once Koushiro responded. "Very well then. Do you need any help booking a flight?" 

With a sigh, the woman refused Koushiro's offer. She'd rather call the airport than rely on a kid she didn't even know, but didn't exactly want to say so outright. The conversation didn't last long after that and she was soon left in silence with her thoughts. 

Ryo's mother was never a very trusting person. A paranoid pessimist by nature, she always had reason to regard anything she wasn't used to with suspicion. Teenaged kids who could find anyone's personal information with just a few keystrokes and a modem were not to be blindly trusted. But he was all she had to help find her son and she didn't even know where else to go to. And what was she going to do when she found him anyway? If the Yoshinaka woman was as unstable as she suspected, would she be able to defend herself? 

An idea flitted to the forefront of her mind and it didn't take long before she realized that she did have someone to turn to, for minor aid if nothing else. There was no hesitation as she picked up the phone again and punched in a series of numbers with such vehemence that it startled the tsukaimon that was watching close by. 

Mrs. Akiyama fidgeted impatiently as the phone went through its fourth ring. Calling to Moscow was expensive, but she had no other choice. Then, when she was ready to give up... 

"Allo. Rosoboronexport," a prim, almost snooty male voice pronounced. His voice held the thin quality that one heard only on a long-distance call, and the connection crackled at random intervals. 

"Pazavite, pazhalsta Dmitri Ilyich Zakharov? Eta Khynika Svetlana Zakharova." 

"Da, pazhalsta. Minutku." 

And so she waited with a cold mix of anticipation and dread that settled in the pit of her stomach. First Ryo had gone off and disappeared again, and now she was going to beg a favor of a family she had left behind for well over twenty years. She had kept in touch with two of her brothers, but no one else besides them. The company employed more than a few of her relatives though, and the man who had answered her call could just as easily contact her father instead of the brother she wanted to seek out. But then- 

"Allo Khynika! I am surprised to hear you after so long," exclaimed a voice that carried with it all the memories of hiking through Siberia's tundra for the sake of it, of warmth even in cold that was not just due to the environment. Dmitri's Japanese was grammatically horrible and his accent was painfully obvious, but he was trying. "What makes you call, dear sister?" 

"I need you to do a very big favor for me." 

.~*~. 

The silvery tones of a single flute wafted to the ears of those close enough to hear it. The tune brought forth the imagery of a gypsy girl dancing sensuously in a smoke filled room, a girl dressed in whites, purples and reds whose motions were admired by all. 

Ken recognized it as a solo adaption of Maurice Ravel's Bolero with a tweaking that he hadn't heard in ages. Curious as to who would play that particular rendition of the song, he peeked cautiously out the door of the apartment he shared with Takeru. The knightmon guard had nodded off and there didn't seem to be any patrols at this time. 

He had every reason to wonder about just what was going on in the castle. When he wanted to explore, he could only do so when Takeru was around and told outright. Then it seemed as if he were merely being directed away from whatever it was that was going on in one room and pointed elsewhere. It was getting on his nerves and he hadn't decided when best to confront Takeru about it. Then there was the issue of Wormmon and Nahualmon, neither had expressed any desire to leave the safety of the apartments since their last venture. From what his partner told him, there weren't any other virus type digimon to be seen in the castle, and that was highly unusual. When Patamon was around to be asked, the little bat-pig creature could offer nothing more than that Takeru was busy building something. And he was worried about Daisuke, but had yet to talk to Takeru about visiting his friend since he first heard about Daisuke's injuries. 

But with his guard napping on the job, he could wander and there wasn't anyone around to redirect his walk. The peculiar solo rendition of Bolero nagged at something in his memory that was still clouded by years of disuse and he was bored enough to pursue it. 

The crisp silver notes that oscillated between demure to brazen led him down several flights of stairs and through hallways mysteriously absent of the patrol that had turned him away before, and finally out into the courtyard. 

It was more guarded in the courtyard than the palace proper and he had to dodge from the view of several bakumon every now and then. Fortunately, the guards were more focused on trying to keep anything from entering the palace than they were on anything that left it, and he found convenient cover in the hedges. He didn't even know why he was sneaking around, but if he did get caught he would be sent back with escort and he wasn't exactly pleased by that concept. 

Eventually he found himself drawing near a greenhouse that looked for all the world like a giant glass canary's cage. The music was strongest within it, and he slipped close enough to peek into it. 

Sitting on a bench and surrounded by the greenery of vegetation, with lips pursed, fingers dancing over the holes of a shimmering flute and eyes closed in concentration was a boy his own age. The sun highlighted the boy's hair and gave it an almost halo-like appearance, and it glinted off the silver rings of chain mail that the boy was wearing underneath a white overshirt. Ken hadn't realized he was holding his breath until he let it out. Takeru looked _incredible at that moment and the Child of Kindness was uncomfortably aware of the increase of his own pulse. He __wanted_ Takeru and at the moment he was less concerned about whatever circumstances had the majority of the castle's population sent away. 

Takeru had been so lost in his reverie that he hadn't noticed Ken's approach until he had finished the tune that just come to him overnight. Then he had opened his eyes when Ken drew close. And that look on Ken's face, the one he had been waiting for, was worth every carefully laid plan he had conceived. With a grin of delight, Takeru set the flute aside and extended a hand to take Ken's in his. 

Ken chuckled in amusement at the invitation to get a little closer. The bench was wide enough to accommodate three people, so there was enough space for him to settle at his boyfriend's side. He was curious as to just when Takeru learned how to play any woodwind instrument, let alone a tune that was familiar enough to tug suggestively at long- buried memories. As he felt Takeru's arm drape affectionately over his shoulders, the unfamiliar weight of the chain mail prompted him to address subjects that his hormones had nothing to do with. He'd rather confront Takeru later, but he had put things off long enough. 

"Where did you learn that," he asked, then wondered faintly why he was hedging. Well, it was just as good a start as any. 

Takeru glanced curiously back at him. Ken couldn't help but notice what he had overlooked before. His boyfriend's Caucasian blood was prominent with blond hair and blue eyes that weren't natural among the majority of Japan's population, but in recent days Takeru's hair and eyes seemed to have become paler. Hair the color of spun gold had lightened to a near-platinum blond with yellow tints, medium-blue eyes turned to the faint ice blue of arctic skies. Ken was more aware of the effects of psychologically projecting a desired image of oneself in the Digital World than many, but why was Takeru changing this way? It didn't make sense. Then there was that nagging feeling that implied that he _should_ know why this was happening and what memory the situation was trying to evoke, but... 

The boy in light armor was unsure of just how to answer that. For some reason it came naturally. "The song? It just came to me one night. Why?" 

"It just reminded me of something, that's all." Ken paused for a moment, and in the silence he mulled over how best to frame his question. He could try and dig up that elusive memory later, but for now there was something else he had to confront Takeru about. "I've been meaning to talk, but it's been rather hard to get to you." 

"That's because I've been busy. You know how construction is. What did you want to talk to me about," asked Takeru, though he already anticipated Ken's answer. Keeping his dear boyfriend in the shadows about his project was necessary for the moment. 

Once he drew away only far enough to look Takeru in the eyes and observe what response the question would engender, Ken began. "Takeru, Wormmon and Nahualmon are _very_ nervous about this place and I've noticed that there are no viral digimon whatsoever here. Why is that?" 

There was a moment's silence again and a nearly undetectable mask drifted over Takeru's face to hide whatever it was that the boy was feeling. Ken had seen it before and _knew_ beyond a shadow of a doubt that Takeru was hiding things from him. He didn't like this at all. 

"Well," Takeru started carefully, unsure of just how much he wanted to reveal to Ken just yet. He was a Regent preparing a kingdom for his love, but the king-to-be would surely protest this early in development. "Virii are pests, Ken. They must be eliminated before they destroy the garden." 

Icy fingers traced a chill down Ken's spine at Takeru's words and his eyes widened unconsciously in shock. It couldn't be possible. The last person he heard similar words from was dead. She had been dead for a very long time. "Where did you hear that?" 

"Hear what?" Confused, Takeru could only blink blankly at the question and hope Ken could clarify. He knew his behavior was odd of late, but had wished that no one realized it quite so soon. 

"That line. I remember someone saying something like that long ago." 

"Oh. Well, the least I can do is be honest." Takeru sighed and pulled his arm from Ken's shoulders to lace his fingers together in thought. "I've been having these bizarre flashes of memories I know I never experienced, but they seem so real. It's like I'm recalling someone else's life." 

It wasn't possible. It couldn't be. Kageko had died in the real world, so she couldn't have generated a codewalker in the Digital World that would have made this possible. There had to be something else, but that something eluded Ken and left him grasping at a dozen half-formed theories that just wouldn't have worked when held up to scrutiny. But he had to be sure. "Takeru, can you play something else on that flute? Maybe something a little more fast-paced?" 

Takeru reached out and grabbed the flute without really thinking about it, then brought it up to his lips and began. He didn't know where Ken was going with this, but he might as well. 

Ken leaned against the bench's wrought-iron back and closed his eyes. The tune was more familiar and unearthed things he had forgotten. Things he wished remained forgotten. 

_An albino girl dressed in red was out in her sun room that doubled as a greenhouse, sitting on a bench that Ryo had recently put together. Ryo was close by and Ken was curled up next to him on the second bench. They had stopped talking when Kageko wanted to practice and listened in despite her halfhearted protests. _

The tune she played for them was fast in tempo and required a great deal of skill. Her fingers danced along the silvery instrument and in her concentration she ignored a small spider that had dropped down from the leaf of a tall plant to land on the flute's end. 

When asked later, she said that it was called Tarantella and explained the story for them. The tarantella was an Italian folk dance believed to be a remedy for a spider's poisonous bite. When someone was bitten it was deemed wise to dance as fast as one could to drive out the spider's poison. It was superstition, but she said that the music was enjoyable to play. All things considered... 

All things considered, they were in deep shit. Insect-typed digimon were attacking from what seemed to be all sides, and he and Daisuke could only stare at the pale, white-haired woman in red and purple who was playing a flute and ignoring their presence. Her eyes were hidden behind shades and she looked human enough, but one could never be too sure in the Digital World. And somehow she was controlling those insects with the flute alone. 

Ken's eyes snapped open and he stared in horror at his boyfriend. Takeru was playing Tarantella, just as Kageko had long ago. His very pose was reminiscent of Kageko's and Arachnemon's. But it wasn't possible. It couldn't have been. Unless... 

Oikawa had used Kageko's DNA to construct Arachnemon because she had already been to the Digital World, but said in all but the most private reports that he used his own. And Kageko was killed when he tried to physically remove the Dark Seed from her neck. Was it still around? If so, where was it? Was it possible... 

Takeru stopped his song short and opened his eyes when Ken rose from the bench, unsure of what he had done to upset the other boy. Might as well ask. "Ken, are you okay?" 

Ken turned to observe Takeru carefully. He liked Takeru, a lot, but right now he was beginning to see the ghost of someone long dead in him. Takeru was too pale, his hair too light, and Ken knew now that there was something else controlling his boyfriend's actions. With a despondent half-smile, he replied. "You could say that. I'm going back to our room to read, if you don't mind." 

With a sigh, the Lord Regent watched his beloved step out of the greenhouse and down the path to the palace proper. While it was good that Ken had decided to leave the apartment while his troops were away to carry out the Cleansing, it was likely that the other boy _could _ run into something he wasn't ready to reveal yet. He'd have to do something about that. 

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	8. The Hanged Man

Knight of Swords  
Chapter 8: The Hanged Man  
-by Ajora Fravashi 

*Disclaimer: All I own are videogame carts/CDs, random paraphernalia, and more seashells than you can shake a digimental at. I do not, however, own Digimon. 

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It was a beautiful day. The winds blowing from the mountains were crisp, cool and scented with just a hint of sun-warmed pines. There were a few fluffy cumulus clouds in a digital azure sky. The disk of pale gold that was the sun hung high above, not too strong but not weak either. 

But the sun can become so strong that its heat can wilt trees and bake marshes into wastelands. It can take life as easily as its energy can give it. These thoughts circled in Ken's mind as he sat on a chair he placed between the two airy windows. When the sun becomes too warm, it becomes deadly. He had an idea of _why_ Takeru was doing this, and the thought scared him. He had to do something before Takeru went too far, but somehow he simply felt that there was nothing he could do. 

Ken pulled out his D-terminal and thumbed it open. There was mail from Ryo, though it came through only recently and was garbled in the last few paragraphs. An e-mail that came through fragmented? That was rare. He made out what he could though, and what he read made him laugh humorlessly. 

Ryo wanted information from him, since he was so close to Takeru. Oh, if only he knew. If only Ryo had even the faintest idea that Ken knew only what Takeru wished for him to know, then the Tamer wouldn't have been so quick to ask him to act as his eyes and ears. With a sigh, Ken deleted the e-mail. He had nothing he could offer to his childhood friend that would be of the slightest interest. And even if he did, would he _want_ to spy on Takeru for Ryo's sake? Was Ryo even aware that he had asked Ken to do something so underhanded? 

"Yes, of course he was," Ken muttered in a voice so soft that it was barely audible. "He remembered what I was like as the Kaiser, even if he couldn't interfere and smack me back to my senses. Why not ask that of me?" 

Wormmon's right antenna twitched in the midst of slumber, almost as if he had been aware of Ken's words. But as he rolled over the small gap that separated his cushioned wicker basket nest from Nahualmon's, Ken was certain that the arthropod wasn't really conscious. The teenaged boy soon returned to his thoughts. 

He was only in a position to make educated guesses, nothing more. Even if he wanted to inform Ryo on the matter, the most he could give were theories. But worry gnawed at him and the longer he thought about it, the more he wondered if letting Takeru proceed like this was a good idea. He didn't want to betray the boy he had become extremely fond of, nor did he want Takeru to do something unforgivable. He simply didn't want Takeru to make the same mistakes he did. 

He knew Takeru could be dangerous when driven to righteous wrath, but that anger was stoked so rarely that it was easy to dismiss the blond as a boring choirboy. People were rarely what they seemed to be on the surface. And, given the right stimuli, Takeru could easily become as bad as Ken had been as the Kaiser. Maybe worse. Part of him didn't want to admit to it, but he was too much a realist now to delude himself as he once had. However, Takeru always maintained a somewhat romanticized outlook on life and it wouldn't be too hard for that to be twisted to something dangerous. 

Hugging a knee to his chest, Ken mulled over this unpleasant train of thought. Takeru was really nice to him, so patient and understanding. Takeru did many things for him just for the sake of it. And that was before the blond had admitted to having feelings for him that he had mistakenly thought were only for Hikari. It had gotten to the point now where he was beginning to think that he was more than fond of Takeru. Maybe even love. Love was a powerful word that was not to be taken lightly, so he was very cautious in using it. But... 

Wormmon let out a great yawn before crawling out of the nests. Several of Nahualmon's lavender feathers had come loose during their nap and now stuck to the creases between one segment of Wormmon's carapace and the other in a fairly comical arrangement. Were Ken in a better mood, he would have laughed at the sight. Wormmon was relatively decent at reading his partner's moods and asked what was wrong. 

Ken wasn't sure where to begin or just how to consolidate his insubstantial theories and feelings into something approaching coherency. Regardless of the cacophony of his myriad thoughts, he pressed on the best way he knew how. 

It had taken longer than he believed it would. First he went over his feelings for Takeru, as tentative as he was about dropping the word with such power. Wormmon sat through it without comment, though there was a time once when the digimon had felt almost jealous of Takeru for being so important to Ken and readily protested. Thankfully it wasn't that way anymore and Wormmon had come to terms with it. Then Ken brought up what Wormmon had already learned, that there were no virals in the castle other than his own partners. Wormmon was glad that his partner had seen this for himself, but his eyes soon widened in horror when Ken explained why there were no other virii. 

_"Snails are pests, Ken. They must be eliminated before they destroy the garden."_

_"Virii are pests, Ken. They must be eliminated before they destroy the garden."_

The same line, save for the change of a single word, spoken by two different people who had never encountered each other. One of them was dead, yet the other was alive and even now was showing signs of taking on the dead one's appearance. Could it be that Takeru had taken more than just the dead one's appearance and musical ability? 

Wormmon's eyes widened to the size of tea saucers as Ken worked out everything verbally. It wasn't as if Kageko was ever cruel to him or anything, it was just that she believed he was useless. Which he was really, and she had little patience for what she deemed "useless". But the idea of her spirit in Takeru was really creepy and he didn't like it at all. In fact, it downright terrified him. This wasn't natural, even in the Digital World. Then what Ken said next made him want to find a small hole to crawl in and not come out for a very long time. 

Sakimoto Kageko had been hit by a Dark Seed in the same battle that Ryo and Ken defeated Millenniumon. She was the first one hit, then Ken saw what was done to Kageko and shoved Ryo out of the way, only to get hit in turn. She had recovered quickly and went back to the real world while Ken was still sick, and was never seen again. Later, when Ken recovered enough to be sent back, he learned that Kageko had been listed as killed by a car wreck in the newspapers. Ken found later, through Ryo's files, that it was not an accident that killed her but a failed attempt to surgically remove the Dark Seed. In the end she had been cremated and any tangible evidence went up in smoke. Ken could only guess that the Dark Seed was still out there, stolen by whomever had left his friend to die. Then years later Takeru had been abducted for several weeks, and there had been no damage that could be found by normal medical investigation. But then, after the initial intrusion by the Dark Seed and the sickness brought about as the body's natural defenses tried to neutralize it, there never was any damage apparent and Ken had the firsthand experience to know this. 

It was a long shot, but Ken concluded that Takeru must have the last remaining true Dark Seed. There was no other way Ken could explain Takeru's behavior changes, why Takeru seemed to have inherited Kageko's memories and abilities, or why Takeru was projecting the features of a dead girl he'd never met on himself. The Dark Seed didn't make one truly evil, it simply enhanced its host's abilities and fueled emotions that might otherwise be suppressed in social interactions. With Ken it had taken his insecurities and twisted them in such a way that it induced a form of megalomania and sadism. With it Ken had found refuge in trying to be something he wasn't, and delighted in the escapism. 

There was silence as Ken ran into a roadblock in his train of thought. The Dark Seed intensified the darker passions that humankind was capable of and he suspected that this was why Takeru was acting like a self-righteous crusader, but it didn't explain the memories. Ken had always believed that the Dark Seeds were meant to act as an external quine, a self-replication program of Millenniumon's that would feed off the energies and emotions of its host before the entirety of the code was generated and executed. Had the Dark Seed somehow absorbed Kageko's memories before she died? If so, then it would suggest that they were programmed to learn from the host too. Would this suggest that they were capable of some amount of sentience? If so, it would be so easy to place the blame on his behavior on them like he had when he was younger, and he didn't want to be such a coward anymore. 

And yet, how was he going to confront Takeru? The Dark Seed did not instill rationality into the host. They were modelled by Millenniumon after all, and the evil god had been far from sane. He really didn't want to fight Takeru, but he didn't want Takeru to make the same mistakes he made either. It was a great dilemma and his heart ached terribly at the thought of making a choice either way. 

Wormmon nuzzled at his partner's leg reassuringly. He really didn't like the situation they were in, and was unsure of what to do now. If he and Nahualmon- 

"Wormmon, if you and Nahualmon stay, you'll be in danger," Ken said, unaware that he finished Wormmon's thought. "But it might be more dangerous if you leave. Takeru won't hurt you two himself, but the other digimon here might." 

"I know." Wormmon's voice quavered slightly with the admission, but he raised himself up slightly in an attempt to be brave. "We'll pull through, Ken. We always have." 

Sighing, Ken allowed himself a moment to pat Wormmon on the head. He was completely powerless and didn't like the feeling at all. He never did. But then, admitting to that was just as cowardly as blaming something else for his foul behavior. Wormmon leaned into the touch, taking what comfort he could. Then- 

"Do you think you and Nahualmon can find a way out of here?" 

Wormmon blinked in surprise at that question. "Probably. Why?" 

A tiny, half-hearted smile quirked at a corner of Ken's lips. "Ryo needs information and I'm not in a position to send it to him. But if you and Nahualmon can find your way out of here, _you_ can tell him what I've told you." 

"...Oh." Wormmon thought on that for a moment. He had had more than his fair share of squirming around in hidden places, but getting out of here could be tricky. Perhaps if he could find a sewage system or something like that, it would be feasible to escape. What he was going to do with Nahualmon was an issue he would have to deal with once they reached that point. Nahualmon was very vain about its plumage. But then, there had been worse situations that Wormmon had squirmed out of with his carapace more or less intact. "You can count on me, Ken!" 

The tiny smile on Ken's face broadened at that. "I know. And Wormmon? Be sure to tell Ryo how you got out. Tell him everything." 

"Of course!" Wormmon then turned from his partner to poke at the sleeping feathered reptile until Nahualmon gave an indignant squawk and hopped out of bed. 

It took a few moments for Wormmon to explain things to Nahualmon in such a way that the other digimon would understand, but it didn't take as long for Wormmon to plot out their escape route. Incompetent and slow Wormmon may have been in battle, but he always knew ways of squirming out of predicaments that other digimon would never bother to consider. Better to survive with a bruised pride and one's carapace intact than get killed in a battle. Once Wormmon was done, he gave Ken as big a hug as his little forelegs could manage and skittered out of the room with Nahualmon close behind. Thankfully, the knightmon was still sound asleep. 

.~*~. 

It was raining, an event so typical of Japanese coastal cities that it was of little circumstance. The overcast clouds and lack of sufficient sunlight gave everything a grey tint, as if a picture had been taken of this part of Tokyo with greyscale film. In a way it was appropriate for Hikari's current mood. 

She had heard from Miyako, who had told _everyone_ that might have been involved with the Digital World at one point or another, that Takeru and Ken were missing. Then there were the news that some unidentified Chosen Child had gathered the vaccines and sympathetic datas together and was staging a genocide against the viral part of the population. Any involvement by Ken was pretty much ruled out for the simple reason that his own partner was a virus. Then Koushiro had started a campaign to get responses from the international Chosen Children, and what he learned had been told to the others in Japan. 

In Russia, Laura and Anna's digimon had disappeared. Much to their distress, they had realized after the fact that their snimon and unimon were very likely to be involved. The report was made by Anna, the only one who had cultivated a tentative handle on the Japanese language. Catherine of France had Takeru's grandfather compose her e-mail, saying that she had gathered reports from all over Europe, and anyone with a vaccine partner said they couldn't contact their digimon at all. Also, a few of the data-type digimon were missing, and any kid with a virus digimon had told their partners to stay in the real world until the genocide was over. The situation was echoed in the Americas, as reported by Chichos and Sam, both who learned Japanese for very different reasons. Sam had become something of an anime fanboy over the years, and Chichos's one-time crush on Ken had bloomed into a long-distance friendship. Mimi, of course, was doing her best to help organize the North American kids. There had never been more than a handful of Chosen Children in the African and Middle Eastern sectors, but the few that existed could only make their reports in Arabic and broken English. Thankfully, the genocide hadn't extended that far in the Digital World, a sentiment that was shared by Dingo and the rest of the Chosen Children in the South Pacific. India's counterpart in the Digital World had yet to be reached as well, but according to one of the Poi brothers, it had taken hold in their region of the Digital World. Yuehon had lost her airdramon's loyalty to the banner of the Three-Edged Sword, a fact that made her report bitter and she demanded that something be done about the upstart responsible for the genocide. 

With all the accounts flooding in, there was a need to organize people and chart out the extent of the situation. Koushiro had finally given in and bought a large map of the real world, then printed out a chart he made of the Digital World's geography the moment he wrangled a deal with someone in a poster company that had a printer big enough for the job. With the help of Jou and Miyako, Koushiro had the two charts posted up in his "war room" (technically his bedroom) and stuck red thumbtacks where he could pinpoint definite attacks by the armies of the Three-Edged Sword. It became increasingly obvious that the armies succeeded where others would have failed. The mastermind behind the banner of the Three-Edged Sword was employing battle tactics oddly reminiscent of the Romans, which no single clan of digimon could hope to stand up to. Brute force and sheer numbers would never win this war in their favor. Ken's knowledge of military history would have been an asset, but no one could find Ken and Takeru. It had even been suggested by a few of the international kids that Takeru might be responsible, a notion dismissed as ridiculous by the Japanese Chosen Children. They had known Takeru for so many years that the very idea was immediately ignored. Takeru would _never_ do such a thing! 

Right? 

Hikari sighed as she spared a brief glance at the large clock mounted on the external wall of a department store building. To add to the nagging sensation Hikari had that they might be wrong about Takeru, there were other problems she had to deal with. It had been a very long time since she had the visions, so long that she thought the ability had left her, but then the dreams had started up a few days ago. They weren't normal dreams, but played more like recollections of events she had never experienced herself. 

The first had been a memory of fondness, of walking in the rain with only the company of someone she loved very dearly. There was some frustration in the sense that she couldn't find the words to tell this person how she felt, but it was okay for now. There was no rush and they had all the time in the world. The peace between them was timeless and breaking the silence didn't seem necessary. Suddenly the guy stopped and hugged her, much to her surprise, and whispered. "Thanks for listening. It means a lot." And oh, the way her heart fluttered at the feeling of being embraced by him. The moment could not be more perfect. 

That dream had bewildered her, for she was certain she had never been through this before. Her love for Takeru was the same as the love she had for her brother, and that never gave her the feeling she had in the dream. Then came the other dreams. 

There was a girl in one of them, a girl with hair so white and skin so pale that she could be nothing but an albino. The girl was wearing a sun hat and shades, but they didn't distract much from the brilliant smile on her face. She had her arm hooked with that of the boy Hikari's dream-self was in love with, and said those words that felt like a stab of ice. Hikari's dream-self maintained a rigid composure as she congratulated them, then yanked her little brother along as she sharply turned and stalked away. Stupid of her to think she ever had a chance with _him_. Of course he wasn't _that way_. 

It was stupid to get close to anyone, her dream-self felt, it was even more stupid to feel that way about a best friend and potentially ruin that friendship by scaring him away. The chance that this friend was gay, or at least bisexual, was infinitesimal. And that was the first clue Hikari had about the identity of the person sending her the dreams. Then another dream, this time about a younger brother that evoked mixed feelings from the dream-self. There was jealousy that the boy was more normal and compassionate than _he_ could ever hope to be, a brother's love strained by the stress of having to work constantly to please others and maintain the status of child genius, frustration over their parents' somewhat negligent behavior towards the brother, concern over his well-being, and disappointment that the brother wasn't fast enough on the uptake. But the boy had promise and could offer their parents what the dream-self never could: a son that wasn't ashamed of their average intelligence and could return their love. 

She had cornered the dream-self then, letting her consciousness stir without actually waking until she had enough control to dispel the illusion and manifest an image of herself. Shortly after this, a boy that looked only eleven years old appeared before her. His hair was an untamable mess of lavender and his shrewd blue-violet eyes were framed by gold-rimmed spectacles. A look of surprise briefly crossed his face when she took control of the dream, which was soon masked by a haughty expression that appeared too well practiced. 

"I didn't expect your power to be this well developed," the boy stated dryly. He crossed his arms in wariness, a gesture that suggested a natural distrust of others. There was something so familiar about him, but Hikari couldn't quite remember what it was. 

Hikari blinked curiously at him before responding in as soothing a voice as she could manage. "I didn't know I still had it." 

The boy gave a condescending smirk that was rather annoying, but she was curious about his purpose and put up with it for the time being. "It never deserted you, child of Light. As rebarbative as I find this quandary, I cannot extricate him on my own and you are the only one with sensitivity enough for my needs." 

"'Him'? Do you mean the guy in those dreams you sent me?" Hikari was even more curious now and hoped that the boy would explain the reason for his visitation. She didn't want to press on the matter, but... 

"Correct. I trust you have at least a modicum of familiarity with him. You are only one of very few who remember that time. To the others, it never happened." 

Hikari was normally a very polite girl and generally would not have stared as hard as she did at that moment. But the boy was making no sense whatsoever. And, with the way he carried himself, he did not seem like the type of person willing to explain things without making her feel like she was being an idiot. The blank expression on her face must have been more obvious than she thought, for one of the boy's eyebrows arched as the seconds ticked by. 

Then, much to her surprise, he gave a dismissive gesture. "I shall have to elucidate that later. Regardless, it's for your ability and the fact that you still retain the memory others forgot that I sought you out. The poor idiot has gotten himself in trouble again and unless I guide you to him, no one else is going to be able to find him in time. Besides, I do believe you owe it to him." 

Suddenly there was a flash of memory. It was from back when she was younger, but it had been from a period she had unconsciously blocked out. She remembered Agumon and someone else breaking down the seal that imprisoned her, Yamato and Jou. He was Taichi's age and had managed to defeat the minion that captured them with the aid of a digimon that wasn't his. The boys had thanked him for breaking them out, but her only concern at the time was Taichi and she had asked him to save her brother. He gave a reassuring grin and, after offering her his word that he'd do his best to find her brother, ran off. No one was supposed to remember _him_. Not back then. He had saved them all from Millenniumon's minions, but they repaid that with unintentional betrayal. It wasn't supposed to end that way and as the dust settled in the desert over which Moon-Millenniumon's floating continent had collapsed, orders were passed from a Holy Beast to Gennai and Piccolomon that no one had overheard. But it didn't matter, for the memory blocks and hypnotic suggestions were soon set in place. No one was supposed to remember Akiyama Ryo and Millenniumon, and the vast mistakes the Holy Beasts had made in trying to rid the Digital World of Millenniumon. 

"The human mind is a surprisingly versatile thing," the lavender-haired boy stated as if in another world altogether. "The Holy Beasts could order memory blocks to be set up, but humans are not digimon. The measures taken to keep the Chosen Children from remembering would have completely wiped the memories of digimon, but only worked temporarily for humans. It was just a matter of allowing the neural pathways to be remapped around the blocks, a natural occurrence for growing children." 

It took Hikari a moment to gather her thoughts. "But, you said that to the others it never happened-" 

"Because they won't remember. They have no reason to. You, Purity, Knowledge and Hope remember because you were younger than the rest, the blocks didn't affect you as strongly. Additionally, the greater the connection one had with him before the blocks were set in place, the more they remember. Hope remembers less than Knowledge, Knowledge remembers less than Light, Light remembers less than Purity. However, that is not what I am here for. So," the boy started abruptly as he pinned her under a very intimidating stare, "you _will_ help me save him, won't you?" 

It was more of an order than a question, but Hikari readily consented anyway. If nothing else, she did try to help when and where she could. 

After a few hours of discussing things with the stranger, she found herself out here and waiting for someone of Russian descent to show up. This was proving to be a test of patience, especially since there were so many foreigners milling around Shibuya. Many were tourists looking innocently for landmarks to photograph, but there were a few others in search of underaged schoolgirls willing to put out special services for a few thousand yen. One of those perverts had approached her thinking she was that type of girl, and she had taken to retreating to the shadow of a tree near Hachiko after prying herself away from the scary person to avoid further confrontations. 

She was ready to give up and was beginning to make her way towards the Shibuya station when the strains of faint drunken singing drifted to her ears. The voice was rough and male, not very well trained but held passion that wasn't always common in the voices of professional singers. It was in a language she didn't understand, but she tried to make it out from the various conversational voices nonetheless. 

"...V pobede velikikh idey kommunizma... Mi vidim gryadutshee nashey strani, I krasnomu znameni slavnoy otchizni... Mi budem vsegda bezzavetno verni..." 

"That's what we're looking for," whispered the insubstantial, ethereal boy that stood next to her. His expression was almost owlish as he stared across the sea of people, an impression heightened by the presence of his glasses. "There is a woman who is supposed to meet with him, and she's who we need to follow." 

They waited in the sea of people, the girl so unassuming that she blended well with the crowd and the boy was invisible to all without her gift. Amidst the flow of tourists it was easy to pass over both them and the woman they waited for. Then, as if the scene was taken out of an old spy movie, an auburn-haired woman sporting a briefcase and trenchcoat bumped into to the singing man. Briefcases were exchanged with false apologies and they went their separate ways. With only the slightest urging from her otherworldly guide she took to following the woman who bore a resemblance to someone she was well acquainted with. With the vast number of people coming and going it was getting to be somewhat difficult. Then, as she followed the woman to a less populated street, she suddenly found herself without a lead. It was as if the woman had disappeared into thin air and left no trace behind. The non corporeal figure had lost interest in her and disappeared as well. How on earth- 

Hikari let out a startled yelp as a hand clamped on her wrist and yanked her into a nearby alley. She would have cried out for help were it not for the arm that had hooked around her neck and threatened to strangle her. Terrified, Hikari could do nothing but shiver and hope help would come. 

"Who are you and why are you following me," the woman demanded. Her voice had an odd accent that Hikari couldn't quite place, but she did loosen her hold when she realized that Hikari was just a teenaged girl. 

"Yagami Hikari," Hikari managed to get out in a surprisingly calm voice. "I can help you find Ryo." 

The woman let her go. Hikari rubbed gingerly at her throat while the woman watched her with almost hawkish blue eyes. Now that Hikari had a closer look, it was obvious where Ryo had inherited most of his features. The eyes, hair, and complexion were remarkably similar, right down to the two locks that dangled over the woman's forehead and had escaped from a tight ponytail. There were the more intangible differences that stood out though, a hardness and distrust in the woman that was absent in Ryo. 

"And how is it that you know what Izumi was unable to find out," Mrs. Akiyama asked with every bit as much suspicion as Hikari anticipated. 

With a sigh, Hikari fidgeted for a moment before responding. She really wasn't sure what to say. Tell the truth and Mrs. Akiyama would think she was nuts. Lie and if the woman figured it out, she would never be trusted again.But then... "Have you heard from Izumi recently? He lost your number, so I was sent as soon as he found out where to go." 

That seemed to be enough, thankfully. Mrs. Akiyama gave a small grunt of acceptance before speaking again. "I see. Where to, then?" 

"We'll have to make a trip to the warehouses of Sagacho. The nearest train station to it would be the Monzennakachou station. I hope this isn't a problem." 

Mrs. Akiyama's gaze was still uncomfortable in its sharpness, and Hikari had to resist the urge to squirm uncomfortably under it. "How good are you at keeping secrets, child?" 

Blinking, Hikari could do little more than try to come up with an answer that wasn't going to sound too suspicious. But only the truth would suffice in this situation. "If you mean about the briefcase exchange, it wasn't very subtle, but I won't mention it to anyone." Then, much to her surprise, Mrs. Akiyama laughed. 

"That? My brother was smuggling a gun, not top-secret documents. Trust me, even if I was caught, being in jail would not be a new experience. Now, shall we go?" 

Sagacho was something of an enigma. It was a warehouse district near the Tsukiji Fish Market, and once had been home to the Sagacho Shokuryo Building, a seventy-five year old brownstone building that was briefly turned into a contemporary art museum. But, as was the norm in Tokyo's scrap-and-build mentality, all good and old things come to an end. It had been closed down and demolished after twenty years serving as one of the city's most important centers of modern art. In its place stood a condominium high-rise, an aesthetically disappointing replacement for the old but dear European-style warehouse. The atmosphere of the neighborhood had lost its laid-back, artistic quality with its art museum, and the bustle held the weary airs of the rest of the old neighborhoods of the city. 

Hikari, more sensitive than most to the shadows of the past, could feel the sense of lost dreams and futile endeavors that permeated the area where the Shokuryo Building once stood. It was depressing and she was relieved when they finally crossed the street to the abandoned warehouse that her ethereal guide had decided to lean against as an indication that this was where they would find Ryo. He certainly had no intention of making this easy for her, and she had to constantly make an act of looking at her D-terminal to keep Mrs. Akiyama from suspecting that something more was going on. 

"There are three locks that will offer some vexing hindrance," the boy stated in a rather bored tone. "I would advocate the use of a crowbar or similarly shaped piece of metal to take care of them. He's locked up in what used to be a supervisor's office, and the woman who confined him will prove intransigent. Are you prepared?" 

It took a moment for Hikari to figure out what the more obscure words meant, but she relayed the boy's message when she did. Mrs. Akiyama, thinking it had been an e-mail from Koushiro, didn't look up from her task of putting together the pistol and silencer that had until recently been swaddled in red silk and stuffed in the briefcase. 

"7.62 mm Tokarev TT33," the woman muttered idly as she pushed bullets into the magazine. "Standard Red Army fare. Eight rounds should be more than enough, don't you think?" With that, the gun's magazine was set into place with an ominous click. 

Hikari had always been somewhat uncomfortable with the thought of violence. When push came to shove she would rather try and make peace. However, there were times when peace was not an option, and she was beginning to suspect that this might end up as one of them. Then there was the question: should she ask Mrs. Akiyama to save it for a last resort, or let the woman handle it herself? It wasn't Hikari's fight, really, she was simply here to act as messenger. But- 

"Don't fret, I've no intention of blowing anyone's head off unless they ask for it," Mrs. Akiyama offered as reassurance. "This is simply a safety measure." Then, silently, Mrs. Akiyama slipped into the sheltering darkness within the abandoned warehouse. 

The air within was musty and stale, leaving Hikari to wonder how long ago the warehouse had been shut down and why hadn't it been demolished yet. She could practically taste the dust in the air, and it was starting to irritate her. The beams of light that streamed in from between aged boards offered some relief from the darkness and helped her follow Mrs. Akiyama's pace. It wasn't long before they came to the first obstacle: two doors that had been locked from the inside. 

Much to Hikari's surprise, something cylindric and metallic was pressed into her palm. 

"Flashlight," Mrs. Akiyama stated with an amused tone of voice. "Point the beam at the doorknob on the right, will you? Try not to make any sudden moves and do keep your head down." 

"Of course." Hikari fumbled a bit with the flashlight before finding the switch. A pale beam soon shot forth from it and, with some adjustment, fell upon the locked doors. In the darkness she could hear the woman pace away from the doors, then pause. Then there was the sound of a loud cough, shortly followed by the splintering impact of lead on wood. Without ceremony, Ryo's mother stepped up to kick at the right door. This was the last action needed to loosen the damaged locks and the doors swung open with little encouragement. 

The next obstacle was a similarly locked door on the way to the elevator that would lead to the top floor. It was dealt with in the same manner as the last and they had little trouble getting the elevator to work. It was surprisingly well-maintained, leaving Mrs. Akiyama to voice her suspicions that this warehouse had been intentionally spared from demolition due to underworld dealings. It all felt like something out of a movie, and the tension settled into the pit of Hikari's stomach like a hefty lump of cold lead. Finally, the elevator jolted to a halt and the two prepared to exit it. 

But the elevator's doors would not part. 

"Ohk! Ebat'-kopat'!" 

Hikari blinked in surprise as she watched Mrs. Akiyama try to force the doors apart. She didn't know what the words meant, but there was little doubt in her mind that they were expletives. They should have gotten a crowbar like the boy suggested. 

"-Can't shoot at it, the bullet would ricochet. Doesn't seem like it can be forced." The older woman sighed as she stepped back and took a moment to consider the options. "Honestly, I don't see how we can get out of this without doing damage to ourselves." 

With no desire to comment, Hikari pondered the situation. There were no metal railings, so they couldn't detach one and use it as a lever. There was nothing strange about the keypad used to punch in the floor numbers. It was just a normal keypad, a little advanced for the time when this building was commissioned, but perfectly normal otherwise. Three floors and a basement, that was it. Oh yes, and that little panel that could be pulled aside to call for help in case of an emergency. Hey, wait... 

It was Mrs. Akiyama's turn to be surprised when Hikari knelt to open the panel to the help phone. It was as they suspected: a simple little red phone housed in the metal of the elevator's casing. Refusing to be deterred, Hikari pulled the phone out of its resting place and looked at the surface underneath. Nothing at all was there that would offer a hint as to how to to get out of here. Hikari's shoulders slumped as she realized that there was nothing to help them out. 

Mrs. Akiyama took the red phone from her hand and examined it closely. Then, without a word, unscrewed the speaker's grate and held up the phone to Hikari's eyes. The grate had been hiding a simple little button that was buried by wires. 

"How did you...?" 

"You're not the only one who has seen a lot of spy movies," the older woman said with a smirk. She then pulled the phone close to clear away the insulated wires and pressed the button. Soundlessly the elevator doors parted and then stopped, leaving a gap with the span of several centimeters. It was just enough to slip the long flashlight's shaft through. Mrs. Akiyama used her flashlight to widen the gap, but it was only wide enough to allow Hikari passage. Hikari was, after all, the smaller and slimmer of the two. With a quick "thanks," Hikari struggled though the gap to find something long enough to widen it so that Mrs. Akiyama could pass through. This floor, unlike the place where they had entered, was unusually clean and free of the dust of years. She found what she needed in the form of a crowbar propped up against a doorjamb down the hallway. And standing beside it was the phantasmic figure. 

"Did I not advise that you find a crowbar before you two started here? Do heed my words, for you might not be so fortunate next time." 

Hikari was beginning the process of responding when he disappeared again. This was getting to be quite frustrating. It took only a moment to pick up the crowbar and retrace her steps to the elevator. Mrs. Akiyama accepted the crowbar, wedged the tip between the layers of the right door and pushed against it. The gap widened further, and once it passed the span of fifty centimeters, the doors opened the rest of the way on their own. 

The two stalked silently towards the door where Hikari had found the crowbar, then paused long enough for Mrs. Akiyama to release the safety lock on her pistol again before moving on. To their surprise, this door was not locked. Perhaps whomever had locked the previous doors did not see a reason to repeat the action on this due to the nature of the elevator.It was convenient, however, and Mrs. Akiyama's steady hand eased the doorknob to the left until the bolt soundlessly retracted and allowed them entry. 

Slumped against the opposite wall with his wrists and ankles tied was Ryo, who looked so pale and ill in the harsh white light that bore down upon him. Kneeling beside him with a small glass of water in hand was a gaunt, hawkish-looking woman whose tightly bunned hair only furthered the impression of severity. 

"Come on, Oshiro. Call me 'Mommy' and I'll let you have a drink, okay," the woman crooned softly at the boy. She stroked Ryo's hair as she spoke with claw-like fingers. "Be a good boy for Mommy, Oshiro." 

Hikari felt nauseous as she watched the deranged scene before her and was certain that Mrs. Akiyama was feeling the same way. She was briefly startled as Mrs. Akiyama's left arm stretched out and cocked the silenced pistol. 

"Poslushay ty, mudack," Mrs. Akiyama shot out as she steadied her gun with her right hand. "Listen! Step away from him and I may spare you." 

Yoshitaka Reiko glanced up, stunned for a moment. She quickly recovered her wits and drew herself up. She was an average height for an Asian woman, but her clothes hung off of her thin frame as if on a hanger. "Can't you allow a mother to grieve?" 

Mrs. Akiyama gave a disgusted snort. "Ty mne van'ku ne val'ay! This isn't grief, this is an attempt to inflict Stockholm Syndrome on _my_ son. _You_ understand that as well as I do. Now untie him, pizda!" 

The gaunt woman gave what sounded like a sigh of resignation and reached into an inner pocket of her business suit's blazer. Then, faster than either of them could see clearly, whipped out a pistol of her own and aimed it at Ryo's head. Hikari's heart leapt in dread, but slowly settled when it was evident that Mrs. Yoshinaka wasn't going to fire quite yet. She didn't dare move. 

"Idiot, he's so drugged and delirious from dehydration that he wouldn't recognize you. Get out of here," she snarled. "Leave us or I'll shoot. You wouldn't want that, would you, bitch?" 

Hikari looked up slowly and noticed the pained look on Mrs. Akiyama's face. The arm that held up the gun was visibly shaking. The tables have been turned. 

One's perspective of time is subjective. What was probably only a few seconds seemed to stretch on for an eternity. So it seemed to Hikari, who could count off all the events in the span of a few heartbeats. 

_Doki_, Mrs. Akiyama's pistol lowered and with a smug grin, Mrs. Yoshinaka's did as well. 

_Doki_, Mrs. Akiyama's arm shot up again with almost lightning speed and she only had half a second to aim. 

_Doki_, two shots from two different guns. Two cracks of metal on bone and flesh. Two wounds. Two screams of pain. Two blood splatters on the walls. 

_Doki._ The clatter of a gun on the floor tiles. A faint thud as Mrs. Yoshinaka clutched her shattered wrist close and collapsed on the floor. She would never have use of that hand again. 

Mrs. Akiyama tossed aside her pistol in the rush to check on Ryo. And, despite Mrs. Yoshinaka's attempts on Ryo, Hikari dashed forth to tend to the woman's wound. With nothing else available, she tore the hem of her skirt until she had enough material with which to bandage and slow the bleeding. 

"The mandavoshka just hit him in the shoulder, thankfully," Mrs. Akiyama muttered. She pulled out a Swiss Army knife and began cutting at the ropes that bound her son. "We're lucky her gun has a skewed barrel. Never trust weapons made in China." 

With an absent nod, Hikari finished tying the bandage in place. She pointedly ignored the foul-mouthed grumblings of the gaunt woman and the threats of retaliation. People could be so ungrateful when help was offered without strings attached. Then, much to her surprise, Mrs. Akiyama reached over to whack her gun hard against the back of Mrs. Yoshinaka's head. The woman slumped forward, unconscious. 

"What was that for?" 

"She wouldn't shut up. Ungrateful pizda. No one appreciates random acts of kindness anymore." Mrs. Akiyama wiped away a bead of nervous sweat before pulling out the most slender blade in the pocket knife. She then cut away the portion of the red sweater before pausing to examine the wound. "The bullet is just lodged into the bone, not very deep. Hikari, could you leave us for a moment?" 

"Be careful," Hikari whispered. When she had Mrs. Akiyama's assurance, she silently left the room. 

Outside the office door, the boy was leaning against a parallel wall. He had been waiting for her. 

"Not bad, even if you didn't listen to me," the boy began, then paused as a particularly sour look crossed his face. "Thank you." 

Hikari couldn't find the heart to respond immediately. With the way the boy was acting, it didn't seem that he was used to thanking people for anything. But, she did have to be polite. "You're welcome." 

The boy looked away, clearly uncomfortable with something. Hikari was tempted to ask him about it and hopefully help out if she could, but- 

"I suppose I should depart now-" 

"Wait!" 

The outburst startled both of them, and both because they didn't think Hikari had it in her. The boy gave a wry half-smile and settled back against the wall. "Yes?" 

"Who are you? Why are you here?" 

He sighed and crossed his arms. "The ineluctable truth of the matter is that I don't exist. Not here and now, anyway. I am no longer of this world." 

"You're a ghost," Hikari asked in as delicate a manner as she could. She worried that it might upset him, but there was little else she could think of. 

"No, not quite." The boy paused as he considered just how to explain his situation. "Funny thing, time. If someone goes back and alters it, an entirely new reality spins off from the original one. If the change is too different, these exist as parallel worlds. If the change is miniscule, time fixes itself and the realities collapse back together. People may remember events differently, but the end result is the same nonetheless. In the other timeline, _he_ aided me and I took on a new life. This splintered into my version of reality, but because I made no effort to extricate myself from self-imposed exile, the timelines collapsed together. I don't exist anymore, except in this evanescent form. I assure you, it's very frustrating." 

They were silent again, neither willing to touch back on the subject. Hikari felt very sorry for him, but could offer no words of comfort. He would dismiss them anyway. 

"At least I get to observe my subjects without being noticed," he said with a factitious smirk. With a quick "farewell," he strode down the corridor and disappeared in the darkness. 

.~*~. 

Two large mamon, hulking beasts that stank to the heavens but were indispensable if one wanted heavy lifting done, lumbered up the single path towards the castle of the Segfault Mountains. Bound to their harnesses were sturdy nylon straps that were attached to the wagon they dragged behind them. This wagon's cargo were the spoils of war sharing space with the technology stolen from the houses of the departed members of the Gennai Order. They paused before the great iron portcullis and trumpeted their return. With the creaking of heavy chains wrapping around wooden spools, the portcullis was slowly drawn up to allow them passage. 

A black shadow darted from within the wagon and into the castle's shadows. The Lord Regent paid this little attention as he addressed the two mamon and theirrevolvmon driver, certain that it was Libra. She had been a necessity in locating all of the abandoned residences, and had probably taken it upon herself to oversee the acquisition of material goods. He thanked them for bringing him everything, and directed the wagon towards the courtyard to be unloaded. 

Something padded up to his side and gave a respectful nod in place of a bow. "Lord Regent, shall I see to the acquisitions and make sure that everything goes to its proper place?" 

Takeru thought on that. This large, cat-like digimon was relatively new to his ranks, but had so far proven loyal to the cause. There was no harm in letting the creature handle something so small. "Very well. But that," he said, pointing to a glass and metal construct, "I want that in the most secure part of the castle. I'm sure you know where." 

The vaccine-type digimon gave a toothy smile, affected by Takeru's own good mood. He called out his farewell as Takeru went back into the castle and began ordering the jagamon and hanumon teams to unload and organize the wagon's stock. 

With nothing else in his way or demanding his attention, Takeru trotted up to his apartment within the keep. Hopefully the hanumon teams would be quick to set up his little case, but for now he wanted to be with Ken.Despite the sheer size of the palace, it didn't take him more than a few minutes to make it to the door that led to the royal apartment. The knightmon guard straightened as soon as he appeared and gave a good-natured greeting. Although he was suspicious that the knightmon had been sleeping on the job, Takeru returned the gesture and entered the apartment. 

It was eerily silent. He couldn't hear Nahualmon's warbling or the voices of either Wormmon or Ken, and this instantly set off alarms in his head. Worry began gnawing at his gut as he checked room after room to find the three of them. Every room was unoccupied. Every one, except... 

The last place Takeru looked was in the large bed, which was so still that he almost overlooked it. But buried under the covers and quilts, as if he was trying to hide from the world, was Ken. With a sigh of relief, Takeru stepped delicately towards the bed in hopes that he wouldn't disturb Ken's sleep. The digimon were probably asleep too. 

"Takeru?" 

Takeru paused when he heard his name whispered, then sighed. So much for sneaking up on Ken. With a tiny smile of fondness, he sat on the bed. His fingers gingerly brushed the hair away from Ken's face and lingered on the smooth skin. "Yes, Ken?" 

A faintly pained look passed over Ken's face. It was brief, but stayed there long enough for Takeru to notice it. Takeru was tempted to ask about it, but Ken responded before he had the chance. 

"Please don't do anything you'll regret. Don't end up like me." 

Perturbed, Takeru pulled his hand away and placed it over Ken's, which were draped over each other across his chest. He squeezed them lightly and his worry mounted as he realized how cold those fingers were. "You don't have to concern yourself over such things, Ken. Everything is going according to plan. Just relax until it's all over, okay?" 

Ken's right hand rose to lace his fingers with Takeru's. He gazed into his boyfriend's eyes, as if trying to make a silent appeal that he couldn't quite fit into words. Talking sense into Takeru this late in the proceedings would never work and he certainly had experience to know this well. But the least he could do was try. "Takeru, I'm saying this because I care too much about you to let you set yourself up for such a fall. Please, just let it all go. It's not worth it." 

"How much do you know," Takeru asked, though he was beginning to suspect that Ken knew more than he was letting on. When Ken looked away, Takeru simply shook his head. "Nevermind. It's not as bad as you think, Ken. For the garden to be pure, a few weeds and pests must be removed. I'm just playing the gardener." 

"But why?" 

Takeru leaned in to lightly kiss Ken's forehead, unaware of the pain that Ken was hiding from him when he did so. "Because I love you. Because every enemy we have fought has been viral. Because I don't want you to be in danger ever again." 

Ken closed his eyes and fought the urge to cry. It was going to happen all over again, but to Takeru instead of him. And Takeru's reasons were because of him. He was indirectly responsible for what was going on outside the castle walls. It was a painful realization. 

Silently Takeru gave Ken's cheek one last caress before he waved someone into the room. "I think it's best you sleep through this. I really don't want you to worry. It'll be okay." 

A glance at the doorway revealed a bakumon waiting patiently for the order. Ken resigned himself to his fate. He had done what he could without stoking the ire of the boy he loved, and it had failed. Any further attempts would also fail. He did not resist when Takeru kissed him again and stepped back to let the bakumon breathe an ether-like smoke over him. He was certain that Wormmon would get word out in time. There was nothing else he could do now. 

Takeru was torn. He really hadn't wanted to do this, but he would rather have Ken asleep through the war and unaware of what was really going on. At the very least, it should be over soon and Ken wouldn't be in the stasis pod for long. He dismissed the bakumon once she was done and squared his shoulders. It would be okay. He was doing the right thing. It was for Ken's own good. 

Right? 

A couple of penmon waddled into the apartment's common room with a netted bundle dragged between them. They waited patiently for his acknowledgement before speaking. 

"We found this wandering around," the first penmon said, gesturing to the bundle of lavender feathers and scales with his wing. "What should we do with it?" 

There was an indignant squawk as the second penmon poked at the bundle. Takeru recognized it instantly. If Nahualmon had gotten out, then Wormmon had probably done so too. "Was there another with it? A wormmon?" 

The two penmon simply shook their heads. "This one was all we could find. Should we search for the wormmon?" 

"Yes. I'd like him back alive. Don't hesitate to search every centimeter of the castle. As for Nahualmon..." Takeru paused as he tried to consider the options. He would prefer to have Nahualmon deleted, but data in the Digital World had a way of coming back. And letting Nahualmon go would be like offering someone a bloodhound to track Ken. Perhaps the glass and metal stasis pod could hold two. "Please find a hanumon or two, could you? It's time to activate my newest acquisition." 

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Ajora: This was twice as long as it should have been, but at least I covered everything I wanted to in this chapter. The next card, whenever I get around to it, is Justice. Also, why so much Russian in this chapter? The Japanese are normally a very polite people and Mrs. Akiyama likely would never have learned how to curse so colorfully in Japanese. 


End file.
